Obama's Arrogance on Election Day Angers Conservatives and Liberals
About.com Guide to US Liberal Politics, Deborah White, posts a refreshingly honest blog today, which summarizes the feelings of many conservatives regarding the behavior of their president last night while the returns came in.
Conservatives have had the feeling since February that President Barack Obama isn't interested in their wishes or concerns regarding health care or the economy. They should consider White's comments external validation, and they should take solace in the fact that they are not alone in their frustration.
From the post:
Democrats took a drubbing yesterday in two key governor's races in states which President Obama won just one year ago... and yet Press Secretary [Robert] Gibbs said the President was "not watching the returns."
Instead, top [adviser David] Axelrod haughtily sniffed to CNN that "Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night's Chicago Bulls game."
(Question: Is Obama watching basketball rather than devastating election returns akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned?)
A perfect symbolism of the whole problem for Democrats these days: the President isn't listening to the American people. Or apparently watching, either.
White is right on the money in her assessment that the president should have been more attuned to what citizens of the US were trying to say by way of the ballot box last night. It wouldn't have taken much for him to engage himself in the affairs of the American people; all he had to do was pay attention. Even if he had maintained the same rhetoric, at least no one could accuse him of actually ignoring the two candidates whom he had so strongly supported in the last few weeks (defeated gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds in Virginia and Jon Corzine in New Jersey). No one expected him to make a consolation call to either of them, and no one certainly expected him to congratulate the winners, but to not even pay attention? Unforgivable.
Regardless of his many mistakes -- and he made many during his presidency -- no one could accuse George W. Bush of not following Election Day returns. He may have been arrogant, but not even he was that arrogant.
Which brings up an interesting point. Has anyone noticed the high level of arrogance that has permeated this president's administration? Certainly, the Democrats had every right to be enthusiastic, optimistic and even confident after the first bi-racial president had been sworn into office, but 10 months later the time for chest pounding is over and the time for humility has begun. From the administration's flagrant assertion that FOX News isn't a news channel, to its we-don't-need-you attitude toward Republicans searching for bipartisanship, arrogance has seeped into this administration like a wet dog. By dismissing health care opponents as whack-jobs during campaign appearances and by marginalizing Senators and other Congressional members (even those in his own party) who oppose his ideas or don't march in lock-step with him, the president is directly responsible for setting the tone among his staff.
With all this said, Obama still has an opportunity to salvage not only how his administration is perceived now and in the future, but also what it can accomplish over the next three years. Should Republicans make significant gains during the 2010 midterm elections, as they most assuredly will do, the president will need to carefully consider the worthiness of GOP proposals and at least attempt to find common ground. He can start by giving an honest review to the new health care bill Republicans are preparing to introduce and not dismissing it out of hand. If he is unwilling to do this, he'll not only widen the dissension among his adversaries, he'll light a fire under them that won't be put out until he is well clear of the Oval Office in 2012.
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Comments
The people are speaking but it’s futile. We voted for congressional change in 2006 and that didn’t solve anything. Then we voted for a change in the executive branch in 2008 and that hasn’t solved anything either. Now the people have spoken again and it will still be business as usual.
Let’s see… The wars are still bankrupting our country. The price of gas is still through the roof. The unemployment rate is still sky high. The bank bailouts still went through. The golden parachutes are still in place. Real American wages are still dropping. Wall Street is still in bed with the government. Healthcare is still costing businesses and individuals an arm and a leg.
It’s starting to look like our options are to dig our graves with either spoons or forks. Either way it does not sound very promising.
For any Simpsons fans out there. I’m hoping Kodos and Kang run in the next elections. That way at least we can vote for some real change.
“When the polls close tonight, and the returns begin to show Republican and conservative dominance in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York, the Democrats will say it doesn’t matter………… they’ll smugly tell you that the president’s agenda wasn’t on any of the ballots cast today, and that these elections were about local issues.
________________________________________________________
The president knows what’s at stake here. Don’t let his minions insult your intelligence by telling you otherwise.”
Then Justin reads:
“Instead, top [adviser David] Axelrod haughtily sniffed to CNN that “Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night’s Chicago Bulls game.” ”
Okay. Got it. He said otherwise. I won’t believe him. I won’t let Axelrod insult my intelligence. I know that Obama was watching the returns, his heart gripped by fear.
Then Justin sez:
“White is right on the money in her assessment that the president should have been more attuned to what citizens of the US were trying to say by way of the ballot box last night.”
Justin –
Did you just insult your own intelligence? Do you just believe one of the President’s evil minions? Was Obama gripped by fear when the Bulls were down 18 in the third quarter?
You posted your own rebuttal.
I said I agree with White, not that I believe Obama’s minions.
The fact of the matter is, regardless of what his people say, Obama is completely uninvolved in the stuff he SHOULD be involved in. For example, he’s out pushing health care at a time when he should be concentrating on jobs and the economy (to his credit, he just announced a “jobs summit” … but it’s scheduled for December). Frankly, I don’t think the president was watching the Bulls. I think he was watching the returns, and I think he was and continues to be scared to death by them (ergo the summit — a direct, understated reply to the election night message). Obama’s people (Axelrod) tried to downplay the results of the election, because they knew they were going to get spanked. Whether he was watching the Bulls or not, doesn’t matter. His minions screwed up by saying, basically, that he could care less. That’s the rub. They’re liars, but they’re HIS liars. I mean, think about it: they were essentially saying that the president cares so little about the election results and what the people have to say a year after he was elected that he probably won’t even be watching the returns, because they’re not that important. Instead, he’ll probably be watching basketball, because THAT’S what’s important to HIM. What that tells me is three things: a) the president was INDEED watching the returns and he’s scared to death by the GOP victories in the two places where he personally campaigned, b) his people are so completely inept that they actually think it’s good strategy to try to convince the populace that the president would rather be seen as dismissive of something as important as an election than be seen caring about taking a loss and finally c) he AND his administration are desperately trying to maintain the image of Obama as the untouchable Golden Child.
To a degree, I can understand where they’re coming from (after all, how do you spin a dramatic loss like the one in VA — especially when you know it’s coming?), but their strategy is faulty. If they were to say, “Wow. That SUCKS. The president is genuinely concerned about these losses, and will do everything he can to reassure the public that his highly liberal agenda is good for the country,” then, in their minds, they’re showing weakness.
What I can’t figure out is why in the world Obama’s underlings would say that NY-23 is indicative of the way the 2010 mid-term elections are going to go, when that’s the ONLY one of the three races in which the president didn’t personally campaign. Seems to me by saying that, they’re kind of knocking their guy. They’re essentially saying, “In 2010, the president is going to stay home and watch sports rather than go out and campaign for Democrats, because we think that’s how the Dems are going to win elections next year.”
I also think it’s terrible that Gibbs was out telling reporters the following day (off camera, of course) that Deeds and Corzine were just bad candidates, simple as that. I think within high-level Democratic circles that’s going to do some significant damage to intra-party unity down the road.
Whether the president DOES or DOES NOT go out and campaign for Democratic candidates, doesn’t matter. It’s looking good for the GOP in 2010.
This isn’t to say the GOP doesn’t have problems. They do. They’ve got to shore up some of these conservative-moderate divisions; but honestly, I don’t know if they ever will. This rift has been going on since the Goldwater in 1950s and 60s. And it isn’t just something the national party is dealing with; here in good ol’ Lancaster County, Pa., there has been a con/mod division for as long as I can remember). Unless there is a candidate who comes along that can unite the mods and the cons, this rift will continue. That’s why Reagan was so popular and is looked upon with such nostalgic fondness by the entire GOP (conservatives and moderates). He was the one guy who was able to shore up the divisions.