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Op-Ed Columnist

Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back

By FRANK RICH

Published: September 11, 2010

NO, he can’t. President Obama can’t reverse the unemployment numbers by Election Day. He can’t get even a modest new stimulus bill past the Party of No, and even if he could, there would be few jobs to show for it until (maybe) 2011. Nor can he rewrite the history of his administration. Its signal accomplishments to date are an initial stimulus package that was overrun by the calamity at hand and a marathon health care battle as yet better known for its unseemly orgy of backroom wrangling than its concrete results. While that brawl raged, the White House seemed indifferent to the mounting number of Americans being tossed onto the Great Recession scrapheap.

And so the odds that Obama’s party will survive the midterms seem less than Indiana Jones’s in the Temple of Doom — as we are reminded hourly by the Beltway herd flogging the latest polls. The Democrats are facing a “historic” rout, an earthquake, a tidal wave — well, you know the drill. End of story.

Unless it’s not. On Labor Day, the fighting Obama abruptly re-emerged, a far cry from the man whose Oval Office address on Iraq days earlier was about as persuasive as a hostage video. Speaking to workers in Milwaukee, the president finally started giving voice to the anger of America’s battered middle class. And he even let loose with a little anger of his own. The unspecified “powerful interests” aligned against him, he said, “talk about me like a dog.”

That inelegant line — “not in my prepared remarks,” Obama explained — landed because it was true and because he said it with a grin. Americans like their warriors happy, not petulant (cf, “You’re likable enough, Hillary”)

[SNIP]

And so the odds that Obama’s party will survive the midterms seem less than Indiana Jones’s in the Temple of Doom — as we are reminded hourly by the Beltway herd flogging the latest polls. The Democrats are facing a “historic” rout, an earthquake, a tidal wave — well, you know the drill. End of story.

Unless it’s not. On Labor Day, the fighting Obama abruptly re-emerged, a far cry from the man whose Oval Office address on Iraq days earlier was about as persuasive as a hostage video. Speaking to workers in Milwaukee, the president finally started giving voice to the anger of America’s battered middle class. And he even let loose with a little anger of his own. The unspecified “powerful interests” aligned against him, he said, “talk about me like a dog.”

That inelegant line — “not in my prepared remarks,” Obama explained — landed because it was true and because he said it with a grin. Americans like their warriors happy, not petulant (cf, “You’re likable enough, Hillary”)

[SNIP]

F.D.R. presided over a landslide in 1936. The best the Democrats can hope for in 2010 is smaller-than-expected losses. To achieve even that, Obama will have to give an F.D.R.-size performance — which he can do credibly and forcibly only if he really means it. So far, his administration’s seeming coziness with some of the same powerful interests now vilifying him has left middle-class voters, including Democrats suffering that enthusiasm gap, confused as to which side he is on. If ever there was a time for him to clear up the ambiguity, this is it.

Continues @ NYTimes.com

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There is a lot in there... and for sure, even the sanest analysts with the most positive take on the POTUS are coming to realize that the challenge is a bit too steep... 

I disagree with the author that the jabs are effective.. [or perhaps I misunderstood the author]... In fact, the jabs make him less presidential.

The POTUS most certainly has a communication challenge. For whatever reason, his words (read from teleprompter) fail to really communicate the meaning of what he is saying. That is a very serious problem.

Furthermore his far left and far right mixture of a policy does not translate to moderate approach that centrists prefer.  He has totally alienated the right.. and possibly also a good part of his base.. and now needs to move to the Center, rather quickly... as well as spur the economy in a hurry [which is not going to happen in two months].

With the appointment of Goolsbee the POTUS is certainly moving more towards the center.  Rahm Emanuel moving out might be a great thing also.. provided he gets someone other than Valerie Jarrett in that role (no offense to Jarrett, but she is pretty much known as far left herself, and very tied in with banks and developers).  And, no, Hillary is not interested in that job!  And, as good a job of obfuscation as Gibbs is doing, it is time for him to go and a real thoughtful person to be put at the podium as a face of the government.  Deedee Myers had done a fantastic job for Pres.Clinton, and Dana did Perino a super job for Pres.Bush.  Does not have to be another woman (would be nice though), but the caliber of these two players is not anywhere close to matched in Gibbs...  and needs to be.  I'd hate to see Hillary loose her support, but Cheryl Miles(?) is a super potential candidate there. 

Anyway, I care because the country is in the dumps and it is necessary that we pull the country up at this stage.

-- Edited by Sanders on Sunday 12th of September 2010 10:58:33 AM

-- Edited by Sanders on Sunday 12th of September 2010 02:46:24 PM