The president is in desperate need of a reboot to his campaign.
 |
Yesterday's speech in Ohio was supposed to be the catalyst to move his campaign out of the corner and launch him "forward." His campaign advisors hyped up the speech and repeatedly suggested that it was going to be a "major" address full of bold ideas and a crisper theme for his vision.
Ummm...things did not go as planned.
By minute 54, his words were falling on deaf and increasingly hostile ears. His campaign advisors' hearts must have stopped to read tweets made by their most ardent and vocal supporters in the press. As Poltico wrote, when MSNBC's Mike O'Brien begs the president to stop talking, the speech is clearly not having its intended effect.
Mike O'Brien's tweet: "In terms of politics, this speech could have ended 20 minutes ago. Drive your message, take your ball and go home."
Even worse, while on air, MSNBC's Jonathan Alter, a vocal supporter of the president, brazenly said, "It was one of the worst speeches I have ever heard Barack Obama make."
Gut punch.
Today's headlines from all major news sources are full of grim criticism of the president's empty rhetoric. The speech was a flop. Period.
But wait, isn't Obama the great orator? The brilliant campaigner? Well, apparently not when he has to run a campaign on his own record.
His 54-minute speech was simply another castigation of President Bush's policies and it offered very little vision for his second term. Many sarcastically questioned whether or not he actually recycled a speech from his 2008 campaign.
Does the president narrowly think American people are only interested in hearing whom is to blame for this mess? He is wrong. Americans are not looking for a "guilty" verdict. Contrary to the president's repetitive campaign message, George Bush is not on trial. He is not even on the ballot.
The president has lost focus and he seems to have forgotten that Americans are not looking for someone to blame, but rather, we are desperately yearning for solutions. Solutions for an anxious nation whose financial problems keep us awake at night. Solutions to help the millions of unemployed regain stability for their families. Solutions that will help our neighbors stay in their homes. Americans want solutions.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the president's silence on solutions is simply a reflection of the fact that he doesn't have any to offer.
***
Yes, the president inherited a weak economy, but he ran on the promise that he could fix it. We believed him. We gave him our vote and trusted him with our hope. He has not delivered.
Instead, the incessant blame continues. What the president fails to mention? Obama inherited a mess, but he also inherited a democratically controlled House and Senate. He was given the perfect environment to fix the "mess" the way he wanted. From day one, Obama literally faced zero resistance to his vision.
What did he do with it? For two years, he and his party were laser focused on the wrong things. Health care reform and the passage of an astronomically expensive stimulus bill that he assured us would bring unemployment under 8%.
What do we have to show for his vision? A debt of nearly $5 trillion, unemployment still over 8% for the 40th month in a row, a stimulus bill that did not stimulate, dozens of bankrupted companies that taxpayer money funded for Obama's largest campaign donors and now we await a ruling from the Supreme Court to determine whether or not his signature health care reform bill was even constitutional.
Is this Administration prepared to accept responsibility for anything that has happened under Obama's watch?
Were there any miscalculations? Why won't his Administration admit that the 2009 stimulus bill did not do what they thought it would? Has our president considered that adjustments need to be made? He loves to criticize the missteps of others, but has he learned from his mistakes?
The answer is obviously no and yesterday's speech was obvious proof of it. The president is hell bent on blaming his predecessor and incessantly complains about how difficult it is to work with Republicans.
Has someone told him that there are NO assurances that the Democrats will regain control of the House or even maintain control of the Senate? What if this hostile and divided environment remains in his second term? Will he know how to lead?
His record shows that he is incapable of it.
 |
| Image from the blaze.com |
Blaming everyone but yourself simply shows a stubborn leader who will inevitably lose the confidence and support of those around him. True leaders take responsibility for failures and make alterations to find lasting solutions.
John F. Kennedy once said, "Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past, but let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
A quality that Obama has been unable to achieve.
***
In the coming weeks, as our president finger points, perhaps someone should remind him of his once inspiring words. As a presidential candidate, in 2008, Obama said, "It's time to fundamentally change the way we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent."
Too bad that his record shows that those words must have come from a speech writer and not from his heart. It is clear that that message didn't reflect his core convictions.
I have very little confidence that things would be different in an Obama 2nd term.
Why? Rather than learn from the criticism of yesterday's disastrous speech, this morning the White House simply changed the conversation and announced a major policy change regarding immigration. According to the AP, the White House will no longer deport illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and have since led law-abiding lives.
This is extremely controversial. As The Blaze reported, "This waiver is the latest move by the president to make changes to immigration policy without congressional action."
Yesterday's White House message: Blame. Today's White House message: Pivot. Distract.
It feels calculated. It feels insincere. And it is undoubtedly politically motivated.
They are trying to show leadership. I am not buying it.
So, although it has been a rough couple of weeks for the president, it has been an even rougher couple of years for us.
It is time for a change.
 |
| Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images |
Word. Obama is grasping for straws just to get votes. His new announcement is clearly a new tactic for votes because the Latino vote is up for grabs. So, so disgusted by him and I voted for him 4 years ago. Not again. Go MITT!
ReplyDelete