Obama's Report Card

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Jan..19, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                    

              One year into his first term, President Barack Obama faces some daunting challenges, especially keeping the public optimistic about his political agenda.  Already showing signs of cracks, Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Martha Coakley finds herself in an unexpected dogfight with little-known GOP challenger state Sen. Scott Brown.  While no one knows the outcome yet, Brown has a good shot of pulling out the upset for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s senate seat.  Once thought sacrosanct by Democrats, Coakley poor showing speaks volumes not just about her bad campaign but, more importantly, a referendum on the Obama presidency.  When Barack decided Dec. 2 to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, antiwar Democrats and independents groaned, realizing his campaign stance was more nuanced to make a case against former Presdient George W. Bush’s Iraq War.

            Campaigning to heal the country’s red-and-blue rift, Obama proceeded after his inauguration to allow congressional Democrats to dictate his political agenda.  Allowing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to set his priorities, Obama backed the Democratic Party’s most liberal goals.  Instead of focusing, before anything else, on the economy and jobs, Barack allowed congressional Democrats to set his legislative agenda, including passing health care reform and cap-and-trade.  Given the dire economic circumstances, Barack allowed House and Senate Democrats to call the shots.  While many fiscally responsible Democrats were skeptical of his $687 billion bailout plan, they went along to see whether it could create more jobs.  When the job market continued to head south, those same Democrats grew skeptical of economic recovery.

            Remaining fixated on health care reforms in light of destructive trends in the U.S. economy caused problems for Barack’s approval ratings.  When Congress passed Obama’s Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act Feb. 11, 2009, there were great expectations for improving the U.S. economy.  While job losses have slowed, Dec. 09’s 85,000 lost jobs threw cold water on the president’s economic recovery plan.  Coakley’s problems in Massachusetts are only partly her problem.  She, like Sen. John McCain faced running for president in 2008 with a highly unpopular incumbent, has been hurt by disappointment over Barack’s first year performance.  Dropping from 68% to just under 50%, Barack must stop taking orders from Congress and get down to basics.  If Coakley loses today in Massachusetts, it spells doom for Barack’s health care plan and his progressive legislative agenda.

            Even if Coakley prevails, the White House must go back to the drawing board and take the public’s pulse.  Most unemployed workers care more about jobs than they do about getting government-subsidized health insurance.  Most people want more government benefits but not at the expense of the economy.  Barack has yet to make a convincing argument about how subsidizing 30 million unemployed citizens reduces budget deficits, now approaching a record-breaking $2 trillion a year.  Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, and a number of the nations’s leading economists, warns about growing budgets hurting long-term economic growth.  Given this scenario, it’s no wonder nearly 60% of voters view the president’s health care reform unfavorably.  Despite hurting his approval ratings, the president has plowed through without considering negative consequences to his approval ratings.

            Obama gets high marks for his oratory and decisive action to rescue Haiti after a devastating earthquake Jan. 14.  Where his grades fell down, Barack allowed his Congressional allies to dictate the agenda for his first year in office.  While Brown’s election to Kennedy’s Massachuetts seat would be devastating blow to Barack’s first-term, it would also temper Democrats’ bravado and force Barack into more bipartisanship.  Getting health care passed at the expense of more partisan bickering doesn’t accomplish his main promise on taking office.  Most important legislation, affecting both Democrats and Republicans, is best accomplished as a bipartisan event.  Baracks’ health care legislation hasn’t compromised with Senate or House Republicans, making it look one-sided.  As Barack promised on the stump, working with both sides of the aisle pays rich dividends.

            Barack’s first-year grades get and “A” for effort but a “C-“ for working on both sides of the aisle.  Coakley’s predicament directly relates to disturbing national trends showing the country more polarized than ever.  Barack came to office promising to work with both sides.  Pelosi and Reid haven’t shown the kind of bipartisanship needed to heal deep rifts inside the country.  No one should blame Barack for coming to Coakley’s rescue since his legislative agenda depends on it.  If Coakley can’t pull it out, Barack will be forced to either compromise or face more bitter partisanship between now and his reelection in 2012.  Barack can’t blame today’s economic mess on Bush without looking disingenuous.  Nor can he blame Congressional Democrats for ruining his political agenda.  He needs to switch gears in 2010 and show he’s capable working cooperatively with Republicans and Democrats.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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