Liberals beware...

Obama good at politicking

Best. Article. Ever. (If you’re not a liberal.)

Okay, so, yeah, if you’re a lib, run … now. Don’t read this one. But I can’t read an article like that and not blog about it. It’s just too freakin’ good.

So, to please Tara, let’s dissect this, okay?

CNN political analyst Gloria Borger recently posed a question: "How does the great communicator, Barack Obama, lose a communications battle?"

I thought Abraham Lincoln was always called “the great communicator.” Seriously, how can someone even remotely lump Lincoln and Obama into the same group, save for the fact they are both people and both have held the job of president? Oh, and both were lawyers.

The conventional perceptions of Obama were flawed from the outset.

I’ve been saying that all along.

It's now plainly silly to place Obama beside the great communicators of the television age.

Someone else sees it too? Holding up your hand and saying, “Yes, we can,” does not a great communicator make. And I thought I was the only one.

Does Obama simply have poor political instincts?

Well, does saying we have 53 states count as poor political instincts?
Does opening mouth and inserting foot about John McCain attacking your Muslim faith count as poor political instincts?

There is the failure to seize upon, if not lead, during defining moments.

You know, W. got accused of this all the time, and I have always felt Obama was just as bad. Glad I’m not the only one who thought that. I mean, yeah, it’s not “Mission Accomplished,” but the man does seem to be more obsessed with leading the headlines about vacationing or hanging out with famous people than leading this country. In my opinion, anyway.

The expressions of American mistakes abroad. Not said from a position of strength. But said at a time when America was confronting its own national weakness.

Yeah, I had a problem with that. Sure, I hate American-centric people who are like, “We’re the best there is, the best there ever was, worship us.” But at the same time, you cannot be the leader we elected to represent us abroad and then basically tell them, “Oops, we did it, we’re guilty, we’re sorry. We’ll do better next time.” That just shows weakness. Yeah, let’s expose our weaknesses and see how long it takes for us to get attacked on home soil again.

There were the impotent uses of power.

God love an article about Obama that uses the word impotent. Epic win.

The fruitless chase of GOP moderates on healthcare.

My opinion on universal healthcare aside (because I’ll go on that rant if you want me to, but I don’t really think it’s necessary here and now), you do have to wonder about that. I mean, the Democrats have a super-majority right now. (As Jon Stewart said, “It’s a bear with chainsaws for paws.”) How the hell could he not get his stupid bill passed easily and quickly? Why did he have to use backdoor politics to pull it off? I mean, just when it disappeared from major news and we all thought it was dead, here he comes with this major “win” by passing a healthcare reform bill.

The presumptuous firing of Shirley Sherrod.

The whole Shirley Sherrod thing was a mess. Talk about jumping to conclusions. Now, personally, I hate the fact the stuff was taken out of context – but at the same time, I find it somewhat appalling that someone in a position of power still felt like that just 20 years ago. However, that not withstanding, Obama should have been a little more understanding before jumping on the anti-Shirley bandwagon. When she did get her time to speak with him a couple days later, the two talked for seven minutes. Seven whole minutes. Wow, nothing like setting time aside for the people in your country, there Obama. What a great, caring, understanding and empathetic leader you are.

Obama defended the right to have the mosque near Ground Zero. But the day after, he refused to comment on whether it was right. By midweek, Obama said he had no regrets. The law professor would not further incriminate himself.

The law professor would not further incriminate himself. Well, just because he’s not a good leader doesn’t mean he’s completely stupid. But, you know, we can read between the lines – and the more silent you are, the more we’re going to read there, buddy.

Obama could have taken the principled stand on the mosque. It would not have been popular. But the principled stand can outlive the popular stand. It becomes a testament to character.

Character? Presidents are supposed to have character? Really?

Liberals were left without the moral leadership they crave. Americans were left without the character they respect.

Holy crap, are they saying what I think they are saying? That he let down everyone – even those libs who love him? Say it ain’t so.

Where is the communicator we thought we knew? More aptly put, was he ever the man they thought they knew?

Answer: No, he was never who you thought. Lesson one: politicians are never who they seem. That’s why they are politicians. Lesson two: he was put on a pedestal unnecessarily and without substantiation. He’ll never live up to the hype that way.

Could even a Ronald Reagan have beaten a Democrat two years ago?

Nope, Mickey Mouse could have run as the Democratic candidate and would still win. I mean, Obama didn’t win because he was the better candidate or because he had better ideas – he won because he wasn’t a Republican. Plain and simple. And you can fight me on this all you want, but that’s the long and short of it and you know it. There are other issues at hand, yes. But a majority of the people who voted for him, did so because he was not what was there before.

It is forgotten how clumsily Obama dealt with the rare obstacle.

People see what they want to see. They wanted to see how freakin’ wonderful he was, so they forgot that. People like me, we don’t ever want to see the good, so we choose to remember the 53 states comment.

This is a candidate who first sustained majority support after the market crashed on September 15. Yet Obama focused his first year on myriad liberal dreams over the economic crisis. Unlike most Americans, his priorities did not change with the crisis. Obama never even offered the great speech to match this Great Recession.

Just sign another stimulus bill, no worries. It’ll all be okay. No need to change your priorities.

He simply falls far short of the hype.

Truer words have never been spoken.

This is the same man who, on the cusp of his national address at the 2004 Democratic convention, told a reporter "I'm LeBron, baby."

Yeah, do we need to point out what a douche LeBron has been lately? Hmmm. Nice correlation now that I think about it…

"I'm pretty good at politicking," Obama recently told supporters at a fundraiser.

In your head, maybe.
And just because you’re good at politicking, does not make you a good President. Plain and simple.