Is President Obama Happy He Got Elected? Reality Offers a Rude Awakening
By Anita Finlay ("Ani") on March 18, 2010 at 1:30 PM in Current Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Obama Administration, Obama's Broken Promises, Obama's Characteristics, Obama-Barack & President Barack
* Bumped Up *
What a difference a year makes.
While President Obama, flanked by the arrogant and clueless Pelosi and Reid, endeavors to ram through his health care disaster, two articles from vastly different sources make clear Obama has lost the spring in his step and been blindsided by his inability to move mountains on the force of his own personality. No sensible person thought he would – or should – be able to do this. Clearly, his inner circle and the fawning media were betting his messianic abilities would overcome the mountain of difficulties he would inherit as President.
First, Fred Hiatt of WaPo discusses Obama’s Happiness Deficit:
Here’s a theory about why President Obama is having a tough political time right now: He doesn’t seem all that happy being president.
I know, it’s the world’s hardest job, and between war and the world economy collapsing, he didn’t have the first year he might have wished for. And, yes, he’s damned either way: With thousands of Americans risking their lives overseas and millions losing their jobs at home, we’d slam him if he acted carefree.
Still, I think Americans want a president who seems, despite everything, to relish the challenge. They don’t want to have to feel grateful to him for taking on the burden.
No, we shouldn’t have to feel grateful. Don’t do us any favors. Yet, judging by the fact that the President’s personal popularity still eclipses that of any and all of his policies, he has not done us too many favors so far.
I started thinking about this a few weeks ago when Obama confidant David Axelrod, noting that the president always makes time for his daughters’ recitals and soccer games, told the New York Times, “I think that’s part of how he sustains himself through all this.”
Really? Is the presidency something to sustain yourself through?
He did ask for this job; we didn’t make him take it…
Good point, Mr. Hiatt. Mr. Obama spent $750,000,000 to get the job. At most press conferences, speeches, and the State of the Union, he seems put upon and exasperated, as if he is doing us a favor by being here. This echoes Mrs. Obama’s earlier statements during the primaries where she intimated a person of Barack’s “caliber” was lowering himself to enter the political fray.
But schmoozing with foreign leaders, like President George H.W. Bush? In a column last week, Jackson Diehl pointed out that Obama’s relations with just about every counterpart are prickly.
Does he recharge by heading back to the campaign trail, rolling up his sleeves and wading into the crowd? Obama will do that if he has to, to save his health-care bill. But he can’t persuade us he gets much of a kick out of it.
And here’s what makes this so complicated: The fact that Obama doesn’t get a kick out of adoring throngs is one of the qualities that made him so appealing in the first place. Unlike with Clinton, we never felt as though he needed us; he’s a secure, self-confident adult.
Is this guy kidding – all Obama enjoys are adoring crowds. Has Mr. Hiatt forgotten all the stagecraft involved in the fainting fans, or those who shouted “I love you, Barack!!” from the throngs in the audience. They are life’s blood to this man.
He talks about Obama’s family values and tries his best to be supportive. Hiatt is loathe to admit what really has gotten this President’s goat is that the job isn’t as easy as he thought it was going to be. Hiatt continues:
We understand that, even without war and recession, it wouldn’t be easy. His predecessor partied and stuck him with the tab. The Republicans are reliably obstructionist; his Democrats reliably unreliable. The media are carping, superficial and relentless. He is a prisoner of the Secret Service.
And yet. It’s hard to remember so far back, but the administration didn’t come to town with the sense of weariness and duty that it now projects. Unlike the Bush crowd, which never stopped kvetching about having to leave Texas, the Obamas and their circle spoke about the honor of service and the excitement of being in the nation’s capital.
A year later, here’s how they came across to People Magazine:
“It was their first interview of the New Year on Jan. 8 in the rose-colored library on the ground floor of the White House. President Obama spoke in such a hush about the loneliness of his decisions on war and terrorism that one could hear between his words the tick of an old lighthouse clock across the room.”
Less lugubriousness wouldn’t necessarily buy him a health-care bill. But in the long run, Americans might find it easier to root for or with Obama if he’d show us, despite everything, that he’s happy we hired him.
You can’t keep the balloon filled with air forever. Eventually, substance has to overtake style. It is folly to think otherwise.
Hillary knew from the beginning how hard this was going to be. That’s why she made a point of saying she is a fighter who will fight for us. Clearly, that is why her popularity has overtaken Obama’s. The lady never stops working. We may not agree with her every move, but know she is making the best of what is in front of her, working within the policies she has been charged to implement. She never makes us feel she is doing us a favor by being here.
I don’t think the President needs to look happy. No President could look happy in the current world climate. But he – or she – does need to look like he relishes every challenge and can’t wait to dig into the problem with determination and focus. A “Fellas, can’t I just eat my waffle” attitude isn’t cutting it.
Second, Der Spiegel offers a devastating article, Losing Faith in the Messiah, Obama Unites Israelis and Arabs in Disappointment:
Hopes were high in the Middle East when US President Barack Obama took office last year. But instead of progress toward peace, he has shown indecision and hesitancy. With many in the region united against Iran, he is in danger of letting a golden opportunity slip through his fingers.
US President Barack Obama glided off the stage to thunderous applause. He had just given a speech that commentators around the world, particularly those in the Muslim world, would characterize within minutes as “historic.” [snip]
As the Israeli reporter, Nachum Barnea, recalls, Obama was “like a teacher, full of knowledge and persuasiveness.”
Eight months later, the president was forced to admit that he had not even come close to reaching the goal he had set for himself. “We overestimated our ability to persuade [both sides] to [negotiate],” he told Time reporter Joe Klein in the White House Oval Office in January. “If we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high.” It was an astonishing admission.
Never before had a US president enjoyed such trust in the Middle East — and gambled it away in such a short time. Obama has vacillated to an extent that has confused friend and foe alike, even baffling veteran observers of the region.
It is an astonishing admission – and one that smacks of incompetence. Prior Presidents have been stronger, smarter and better students of world affairs, yet they were still not able to bring peace in the Middle East. How many times did Hillary tell us that his foreign policy was naïve at best. It is astonishing, and somewhat frightening to think this man was hitting his own koolaid more than the history books.
Confused friend and foe alike? If President Obama has in fact confused both his friends and foes alike, it is done with deliberation. He is repeating his behavior out on the campaign trail – telling a different story before each audience. This is no longer possible. Governing is choosing. Not campaigning.
No wonder he looks unhappy.
Further, an article was just posted tonight indicating President Obama will be on ESPN to fill in his brackets for the Final Four for men and women.
Where does he find the time?
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
* (Included in the 
* 
.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
- You'll have access to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, as well as ultra-fast Web browsing with Amazon Silk -- faster than iPad. Full e-mail and document access and a keyboard. Fire can transmit what is on your screen onto a connected TV or monitor without an accessory. It runs Flash (iPad doesn't). 
