After one year in The White House, and after the Massachusetts special election, the President applies to his party the only thing he knows to do to the country, centralize control.
It is becoming more obvious to the American people that there’s more to running a country, and fixing economic problems than campaigning on how bad things are and blaming Bush for it.
As Mr. Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday and lay out his initiatives for the second year of his presidency, his decision to take greater control of the party’s politics signals a new approach. The White House is searching for ways to respond to panic among Democrats over the possible demise of his health care bill and a political landscape being reshaped by a wave of populism.
Improving tactical operations addresses only part of his challenge. A more complicated discussion under way, advisers said, is how to sharpen the president’s message and leadership style. {emphasis added}
It was a wave of populism that carried Obama into The White House. He has lost that advantage now. Now it is working against him and his agenda. No doubt his advisers have an undaunting task. How to make a community organizer appear presidential and as a leader at the same time? According to the New York Times . . .
The White House intends to send Mr. Obama out into the country considerably more in 2010 than during his first year in office, advisers said, to try to rekindle the relationship he developed with voters during his presidential campaign.
His first big chance will come when he delivers his State of the Union address. Rather than unveil a laundry list of new initiatives, advisers said, Mr. Obama will try to reframe his agenda and how he connects it with public concerns.
Instead of the campaign-style pep rally in Ohio last week, wouldn’t you rather have seen the President behind his desk in the oval office, telling Americans what his plan is to fix the economy and create jobs? And to justify why he needs a second stimulus package when, after one year, only 30% of the first package has been used while unemployment continues to rise?
Be aware of the community organizer’s tactic. When Obama speaks of the need for greater accountability, what he really means is greater government control. You don’t have to look very far to see how he has held sections of the private sector ‘accountable.’ It has been by taking them over. Could it be that a strong centralized government like that of Chavez or Putin is not really what Americans want?
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