Obama, the Anti-Glamour President?
By: Jim Geraghty
The Campaign Spot on National Review Online
I've been chewing over this notion from Ed Carson at Investor's Business Daily, that the Obama of 2010 has become the inverse of what he was in 2008; instead of everyone believing that he agrees with them, many folks now suspect he's never agreed with them:
<<< Now in 2010, Obama is well on his way to becoming the anti-glamour president. Americans from across the political spectrum are assuming the worst, that he doesn’t share their values or beliefs -- even when it’s his stated position.
Republicans and, increasingly independents, think Obama is a left-wing radical bent on a vastly expanding government and bankrupting the country in the process. Many on his left flank think he’s a coward, a corporate stooge, or both.
From the tea party-GOP perspective, Obama has passed a $1 trillion pork-laded stimulus that hasn’t worked, seized GM and tried to nationalize health care while also passing the growing-killing agenda of greens and unions -- all in a highly partisan fashion.
From the left’s vantage point, Obama lacks principles -- or is unwilling to fight for them. They see Wall Street bailouts and sleazy deals with drugmakers and other medical industries. Cap and trade is going nowhere; nor is Big Labor’s card check bill. Unions also are smarting from the Senate’s Tuesday rejection of ally Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Oh, and Gitmo is still open and Obama has doubled down on Afghanistan. >>>
This is what happens when a relative newcomer is elected to the presidency. Obama has few allies who know he's been with them through thick and thin, and few groups in the political arena can say, "We've been in a lot of tough fights with Obama at our side; we know he'll come through for us eventually."
This, I think, ties a bit to what VDH says at The Corner:
<<< After a single year of governance, there is now scarcely a single issue that Obama & Co. have not backtracked on, flip-flopped, redefined, or quietly dropped -- mostly matters that were once demagogued to score political points. At some point -- I think it was around mid-January -- the public collectively shrugged and concluded of Obama, “I don’t trust anything that this guy says.” And when that happens in American politics, it is almost impossible to restore any modicum of credibility. All we are left with now is three more years of the president’s “Bush did it” mantra and a buffoonish Robert Gibbs, like some strutting carnival barker, showing off ink on his palm to a bored press corps. >>>
Now CBS News offers the latest bit of bad polling news for Obama; he's at 46 percent approval and 45 percent disapproval. His approval/disapproval splits are worse on the economy (42/52), health care (35/55), and the deficit (31/58).
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