Hillarysworld

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Obama's Shrinking Presidency

By Richard Cohen

One of the unintended results of the redecoration of the Oval Office was the downsizing of Barack Obama. In last week's prime-time address to the nation, the president sat behind a massive and capaciously empty desk, looking somehow smaller than he ever has -- a man physically reduced by sinking polls, a lousy economy and the prospect that his party might lose control of Congress. Behold something we never thought we'd see with Obama: The Incredible Shrinking Presidency.

This is an amazing and, to me, somewhat frightening turn of events. The folks who ran a very smart presidential campaign in 2008 have left the defining of the Obama presidency to others, in this case people on the edge of insanity. For example, a recent Pew poll reported that "nearly one in five Americans (18 percent) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11 percent in March 2009." In other words, the longer Obama has been in office, the more ignorant people have become about him.

This news about the growing ignorance concerning Obama's religion came not too long after yet another poll revealed that 24 percent of Americans don't think Obama was born in the United States. An earlier poll showed that 10 percent of Americans think he was born in Indonesia, where he lived as a boy, 7 percent believe he is Kenyan and still others say (correctly) that he was born in Hawaii but do not know, a notable Elvis movie notwithstanding, that Hawaii is an American state.

Continues @ RCP
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Interesting to see the diehard media commentators waking up to really discern that there is a big side of Obama that is not working for the masses. 

If they didn't have their head in the clouds -- and their legs all tingly -- they would have seen that the downside of what is Obama is truly un-leaderlike... and that it would be fairly obvious when the performance puts spotlight on the individual where repeating cant rehearsed speech is not possible. Back in 2008, as a candidate, his speech was very limited; his interaction with individuals on the campaign trail was almost non-existent -- i.e., no real touch with people, no real listening on the campaign trail.

People hitched their hopes and dreams to this man who came across very confident... He was enigmatic.. story-book hero, with what appeared to be a story book family.

But they did not get the sense that THEY were listened to.  They never felt that this candidate knows my issues.  As the hopes drain, they are realizing that. 

He lost his credibility when he did not recall troops within months after he was in the office ---- yes, it was not doable... but it was one of the most emphatic promises he had made on the campaign trail.  They were promised magic.  They got a bit too much reality.  Not a reality show from the WH... rather too much economic and political reality. The Iraq war did not end quickly enough when the Afghan war escalated -- but Obama had not talked much about that war... and now people came to see Obama as yet another war promoter.  Meanwhile, the economic realities dawned on the people in big ways as Bush handed over a near bankrupt country to his successor.

Ever had a salesperson who came to your door and gave a shpeal.... and buy something from that person?  Well, if it later broke, you are invariably going to reflect on what the salesperson said... and how well you truly know that salesperson. It is simply human.

As people reflect on this POTUS, they are realizing that they do not really know this person (afterall).  This makes room for other extreme viewpoints to seed their seed of "doubt."

Can Obama recover from this? He seems to be severely handicapped in the "getting to know you" "getting to know me" categories.  On top of which his credibility is severely affected... and anything he says may be examined with the colored lense of the various unpresidential experiences he has given the nation thus far.. and the result will be quick discounting of whatever he has to say. 

Likeability?  Well it takes a lot of humility and heart... Humility?  Heck no, that is most certainly not the image he has.  The image is one of highly confident (if not overconfident) persona with a halo.  Heart? Ability to speak from the heart in ways that people can relate to is not something you learn. You just have it or you dont.   Given his innate characteristics and the brand image he developed over the 2008 campaign trail, I do not hold much hope for the POTUS.


-- Edited by Sanders on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 09:05:49 AM