President Obama's Big Decisions
President Obama is going to Hawaii for the holidays and all Americans
should wish him and his family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The presidency is an unbelievably hard job and I never mind having a
president spend some time relaxing with his family and renewing his
energy and his perspective.
I always thought one of President Reagan's great advantages was going
to the ranch and spending time riding horses, cutting wood and brush,
and fixing fences. It kept him healthy and it gave him time to get
beyond the petty politics and petty problems if Washington. I don't
think Reagan would have been nearly as effective a president if he had
not gone to the ranch. He spent about one year out of eight there.
The key for President Obama is to stop and reflect on what has been
the worst year of his presidency.
From foreign policy to the economy to the government shutdown to the
NSA leaks and spying challenges to the big government scandals to the
fiasco of the Obamacare website to yesterday's announcement of new
loopholes for escaping from the individual mandate, President Obama has
been battered by event after event.
Not only is President Obama's popularity down to 41 percent -- tying
President George W. Bush at this stage if his presidency and well below
both Reagan and Clinton -- but there are also collapses in support among
his base and especially among Latinos and the young.
One telling example of his decline is Chris Mathews’ description on
Morning Joe:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Let me ask you losers, political losers of the
year?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Terrible year for the president. I mean, it’s
terrible, this --
SCARBOROUGH: Can you go back a year? One year ago, the president was
getting ready for his second inauguration. So much hope. This has
been a terrible year.
MATTHEWS: There's another piece of it which you’re subtly getting
at. It's not just that it’s a bad year in terms of the roll out.
There's an erosion in interest. It feels like a very long presidency
now. It feels like the seventh or eighth year of a presidency. It
doesn't feel like the fifth. There wasn't that rejuvenation that
comes with re-election. There wasn’t any -- certainly he was never
going to get a honeymoon from the other side, but there was no sense
of wow. And I think that's hurt him a lot."
When you start losing your most fervent and enthusiastic supporters in
the media, you are in real danger of your presidency melting down.
President Obama has three big decisions to make while he is in
Hawaii.
First, is he prepared to empower someone to totally overhaul
Obamacare and solve some of its problems? Someone like John Podesta or
Leon Panetta, someone with very deep executive and political skills, who
if empowered by the President might be able to get Obamacare at least to
the point of not failing--in time for the 2014 election. If Obamacare
remains a national symbol of incompetence nothing else will matter in
defining the Obama presidency.
Second, is he willing to reach out seriously to the Republicans and
make it clear to the American people that he is willing to work with the
opposition on a series of legislative achievements? His press conference
was not very encouraging on this today. He was too eager to criticize
Republicans and too eager and energetic in saying he would not negotiate
on the debt ceiling. If he comes back to Washington in a pugnacious mood
he will guarantee nothing gets done in 2014.
Third, can he come up with three unifying themes around which to
build the State of the Union? The American people want a positive vision
of the future. The American people want the two parties to work
together. The American people want goals to work for together. His best
chance to meet those needs will be in the State of the Union in late
January. The best time to think of them is while relaxing and resting in
Hawaii.
The President leaves Washington at an important turning point for his
presidency. It will be interesting to see if he can take advantage of
this pause to reset his presidency on a better path.
Your Friend,
Newt
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