Obama’s Apparently Got A Vision Problem

by William Teach | August 15, 2011 8:12 am

So says The Politico’s Glenn Thrush[1]

Of all the presidents to occupy the Oval Office in recent years, Barack Obama would seem the least likely to be wrestling with what President George H. W. Bush so unforgettably called “the vision thing.”

Glenn would have done well if he explained what “the vision thing” is. In a nutshell, Bush 41 was told he should focus more on the long term issues and less on the short term issues, too which he replied “oh, the vision thing.”

Oh, and Glenn? Obama is the only person to occupy the Oval Office in recent years. He’s been there 2 1/2 years. Interestingly, George W Bush, who you were attempting to demean, was much better at not only having the vision thing, but implementing the vision thing. Unless Obama’s vision thing was to take poor economic conditions and turn them into bad economic conditions.

But Obama, who ran on inspiration and transformation in 2008, has spent two-and-half years trudging through a morass of economic, foreign policy and political crises, often at the expense of projecting a consistent, compelling vision for the country.

You mean he actually had to DO the job of president, when he would have rather been out there talking about unicorns and faeries?

It’s not that Obama is overwhelmingly unpopular, despite the lousy economy: Before this week’s 39 percent Gallup approval rating, the lowest of his term, he’s been hovering in the 40s. Or that he hasn’t tried to project a broader message: Remember “Winning the Future” and “New Foundation”? Or that he’s nibbled, Clinton-style, around the edges of America’s most pressing problems: He’s rammed health care, financial reform and stimulus bills through an often uncooperative Congress.

?????? Pardon me? Uncooperative Congress? Democrats controlled the full Congress during that time period. Republicans tried to stop Obama and the Dems from passing those craptastic pieces of legislation, which the American populace was, and still is, against. And, remember, the acronym for Winning The Future is WTF (what the f**k, for those not into Internet shorthand).

The problem, historians, pollsters and fellow Democrats say, is that he’s done so much, said so much and recalibrated so much, voters are having a hard time getting a fix on how a president so focused on the future plans to win it.

No, the problem is that he’s done so much that people do not like, none of it has helped, the economy’s still in the tank, and all Obama can do is Blame Bush. He refuses to take responsibility for anything (except when it goes well). If he were a private sector CEO, he would have been fired by now.

“Americans aren’t quite sure what the grand vision of Barack Obama really is. … His chess pieces are really scattered around the board,” says presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, who spent several hours in the White House in 2009 and 2010 discussing the presidency with Obama.

“At this point in time I don’t think he can afford not to have a clearer vision of what he plans to do with the country,” Brinkley says. “FDR had the New Deal, JFK had The New Frontier, Reagan had Morning in America, George W. Bush had compassionate conservatism and the War on Terror. What does Obama have? People don’t need to agree with you, but they need to understand what you stand for so they can decide to be for or against you.”

But, people do know what Obama believes in: class warfare, increasing the size of government, blaming others, taking vacations, throwing parties, playing golf, and telling others to implement whatever thing he wants done while he gallivants off to give yet another teleprompter speech. Hope and change is not a vision. He never truly had the vision thing. The 2008 election was more about electing a prom queen than about electing a competent president. And the queen who won is a nasty, bubble-headed dilettante who likes to insult everyone who doesn’t agree with him before saying “we need to work together.”

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[2]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[3].

Endnotes:
  1. The Politico’s Glenn Thrush: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61328.html
  2. Pirate’s Cove: http://www.thepiratescove.us/
  3. @WilliamTeach: http://twitter.com/WilliamTeach

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