The Cost of “Enabling” Obama

In his UK Telegraph piece Barack Obama Is A Novice – And It Shows, Toby Harnden details the rookie stumbles of the new President. For me, this is less about condemning Pres. Obama for making such errors in judgment or losing control of his message, or even that he does not practice in office what he preached on the trail. After all, we knew this was coming. Logic told us that…

It is not humanly possible for someone so inexperienced, with limited understanding of the tangled economic issues we face, a less than sophisticated understanding of foreign policy, or even the machinations of Congress, a man with no governing or executive experience, and precious little legislative experience to be able to step up to the plate at this critical juncture and perform miracles. Even to perform decently. That would be ridiculous. Nothing in President Obama’s life thus far has trained him for these challenges. No offense, but community organizing won’t cut it.
You can’t know what you don’t know.

The true problem, greater than all of the above, is that his pathology involves his believing naively, or narcissistically, in his own ability to move mountains on the force of his own personality. And further, that the DNC elite and the media enabled him at every turn to believe this was true.

No wonder he has that lemon-sucking look we were all too familiar with from President Bush; as he is very displeased that we are not all happily falling in line for his stimulus bill.

I believe he made a statement over a year ago, “anywhere Barack goes is Barack country.”

How’s that working out in Washington so far?

Likewise, I remember a stump speech of Secretary Clinton’s during the primary. I am paraphrasing, but her intent was clear: while it is romantic to believe that we could all hold hands and be bi-partisan, the reality is, special interests and the opposition dig their heels in deep – and you have to be prepared to go to the mat.

A person of some humility, at least willing to acknowledge what he doesn’t know, would have spent every spare moment these past two years “hitting the books” so to speak, instead of surrounding himself with those who echoed the message that the cult of personality was enough to sustain him. Otherwise, I can assure you, he never would have dared to stand before the American people as unprepared as he was for certain questions; or required his trusty TelePrompTer as a buffer zone wherever he went.

Harnden begins his article:

During last year’s epic election campaign, Hillary Clinton said that in the White House “there is no time for on-the-job training.” Joe Biden, too, remarked that the presidency was “not something that lends itself to on-the-job training”. Both were aiming barbs at their then primary opponent. Mrs. Clinton has since brought what she would refer to as her “lifetime of experience” to the role of Secretary of State, while Mr Biden has traded 36 years in the Senate for the vice-presidency. And the rookie they derided is President.

Well, I don’t know how derisive it is to tell the truth. He is a rookie. And Mr. Harnden doesn’t need to put Clinton’s “lifetime of experience” in quotes, because quite obviously, that is what she has. And I, for one, would prefer her at the helm right now. As she herself put it, in addition to her experience as a two term Senator with six years on the Foreign Armed Services Committee, as one of our most active first ladies, she “apprenticed in the White House for eight years.”

What a formidable advantage this would have been for us at this difficult time – and one the DNC wasted: to have someone assume the office of the Presidency who for eight years stood so close to the ultimate decision maker and was privy to information you and I can only guess at; someone who understands the players on the world stage and the workings of Congress, who has reached across the aisle effectively, not to mention the depth and breadth of her knowledge on the economy and foreign policy.

How could he possibly compete? You see, that is where all of the “enabling” comes in. His closest advisors, Daschle, Kerry, Axelrod et al urged him to run too soon because they figured it would be better that he not have a Senate record with controversial votes that could be pinned on him. They wanted a “symbol of change,” a blank slate, and forgot the most important factor: know-how. They enabled this rookie by filling his head full of sugar plums, as have some of his other mentors of questionable motives and integrity.

Mr. Harnden’s next statement makes this quite clear:

Now, the words of his former rivals are returning to haunt President Obama. After a distinctly rocky start to his presidency, he has admitted he “screwed up” and is returning to one thing in his political career that he has perfected – campaigning. In Elkhart, Indiana, today and Fort Myers, Florida, tomorrow, Mr Obama will try to seize back control of the political agenda with question-and-answer sessions with voters in two of the swing states that gave him victory.

Already, however, he is struggling, and the product he is now selling is not himself but a near-trillion-dollar economic “stimulus” package loaded with pet Democratic spending projects that has awakened slumbering Republicans in Congress and is now supported by barely a third of Americans. In between the Indiana and Florida stops, he will return to the White House for a prime-time press conference in which he will appeal directly to citizens and seek to rekindle the magic of his campaign.

But we don’t need any more campaigning, and we don’t need to “rekindle” any magic. We need him rolling up his sleeves and hashing this bill out around the clock with the full Senate. I am not interested in any more sales pitches, just solutions. Beyond chanting, “yes, we can” – and believe me, for the sake of our country, I’d love nothing better than to be able to do so – the reality is when people are afraid of losing their homes and their jobs, their patience runs thin awfully fast with slogans and a dazzling smile.

Harnden points out Obama’s naivété in assuming that once in office, he could continue his honeymoon in the media or with the American people:

…Last week, [Obama] began as a wide-eyed bystander buffeted by events as he lost his key confidant, Tom Daschle, amid an uproar over $128,000 in unpaid taxes for a chauffeur and limousine. Mr Obama and his advisers believed the oversight did not matter because the over-arching virtue of the new White House could not be doubted. He was wrong and seemed out of touch in believing that ordinary people would not notice the contrast between the practice of politics as usual and his campaign slogans against it.

“We lived it for two years, and we forgot it for a couple of weeks,” Mr Gibbs remarked ruefully when asked about why Team Obama rationalised away their own principles because they wanted their old friend in the Cabinet.

In my view, Mr. Obama and his team forgot ‘their principles” for more than a couple of weeks – this is nonsense and his whole campaign was built on do as I say, not as I do. And again, enabling came into play. The media called him on almost none of this. Further, in his presser last night, he promised total transparency and after only a few weeks in office , even the media is complaining this is not the case. “Words. Just words.”

Contrary to what one would expect, his ‘delivery’ and his smile are a part of his armor — designed to distance, to protect, rather than to invite in or clarify. More sales; less substance. I find, particularly when reading from his prompter, he is hitting the notes in his phrasing, but it is mechanical. With rare exception, there is a disturbing disconnect from his words. Last night, he came across as rather angry, as if he is trying to boss the American people into doing what he wants. Er, he is the boss. But it still feels like a performance. And why in the hell can’t he just look into the damned camera and talk to us? Uh, you can arrange to have a prompter right in a large format camera screen, dear. Then at least Obama would look like he is talking to the American people, not pretending he is a lighthouse.

The “performance” is not enough, especially when he cannot back up those words with true passion and understanding for the policies he is trying to sell. And his record of taking action merely for political expediency is likewise worrisome.

Harnden continues:

In the early days of his presidency, Mr Obama has seemed passive and uncertain. Instead of drawing up his own economic stimulus bill, he sub-contracted the job to Democrats on Capitol Hill. They opted to spend money on projects for contraception and beautifying the National Mall – their doorstep – and gave Republicans an plenty of ammunition against the package.

Slipped into the small print was a “Buy America” provision that sent shock waves through capitals from Brussels to Beijing and triggered fears of trade wars and a new American protectionism. It was hard for the President to defend a bill he perhaps didn’t fully support himself. He neither championed the package as imperfect but essential, nor sought to make meaningful changes to it. He attempted to charm Republican centrists with his own personality and the trappings of the White House by inviting them over for cocktails and a Super Bowl party. It didn’t work. Of 219 Republicans on Capitol Hill, only three voted for the bill. Introducing a $500,000 pay cap for some Wall Street executives was empty – and possibly counter-productive – populism.

Mr. Obama cast aside his emollient talk to deliver the red meat at Williamsburg. It was an abrupt change of tone that will come with a price, just as the double standard of preaching about the evils of influence-peddling and lobbyists and then giving Mr. Daschle a pass on his tax evasion will not be forgotten by many ordinary Americans.

Again, this is the politics of personality at work. President Obama could not possibly believe he could simply charm Republicans with cocktails and that would do it. As anyone from a dysfunctional family can attest, you create a Frankenstein when you protect the offending family member from the truth, or fail to hold them accountable for their actions.

Interestingly, Harnden observes:

The activists who formed the backbone of Mr Obama’s election campaign appear less than energised. Few answered his call for house-party gatherings at the weekend to build support for the economic stimulus plan…

Where are all of his supporters who need to go to bat and work the phones and emails for his stimulus package? Perhaps they too are fearful that Speaker Pelosi’s creation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Governing, as Mr Obama is finding out, is not like an election campaign. Mr. Bush’s failures will give him some leeway and his transformative appeal remains potent. But making decisions and operating the levers of power is something completely new to him. And it shows.

Indeed, getting out on the national stage as the new president, part of his job is to calm and reassure the American people that no matter how tough things may look now, we will get back on the right track. Standing up there last night at his presser, petulantly complaining ‘I inherited this deficit’ is childish and churlish under the circumstances. We know he inherited it. He also wanted the job. And he was in the Senate when the roots of this disaster were happening in the banking sector and with increased spending on the Iraq war. He was a willing participant and cannot claim ignorance or innocence now. I have had quite enough of him saying “I didn’t know.”

Since many of us wondered how he might handle the pressure cooker that is the White House, and navigate the treacherous waters of Congress, it would have been a true service to the American people had the media ever echoed our concern back when it counted for something, and really hit him with the full force of the fourth estate, such as it once was.

If that were the case a year ago, perhaps we might have seen what he is truly made of, and whether or not he was equipped to be more than a salesman or a campaigner. Leadership is not petulant. Leadership does not complain “hey, don’t blame me.” Leadership finds a way to inspire without scolding. And leadership does not use the politics of fear to get an agenda passed. We’ve just experienced eight years of that behavior, thank you very much.

The DNC elite were so focused on what they assumed would be the future of their party, filling their coffers with the donations he could generate; and the media was concerned with romanticizing Obama as a candidate instead of applying rational thought to what might actually happen if someone that untested were to assume the office. The result is that President Obama – at least at this moment – must revert to the thing he does best: campaigning.

He is going to have to grow an entirely new skill set. Over 60 million people took a leap of faith that he is his word. That leap of faith was pretty much all they had to go on. His handling of this stimulus package thus far is, however, more of the same old Washington song and dance. I wonder how long the American people will likewise ‘enable’ the cult of personality.