Barack Obama Looking at Awesome Things

This made me LOL.

Go ahead, click here...it's worth the view.

Is Obama Arrogant?

First off I need to apologize to you all for not blogging as much these past few days. I've been caught up with work and just generally being lazy at home BUT I do plan on getting back into the swing of things. The elections are only a couple of weeks away after all!

So to get back into it, let me direct you to Jonah Goldberg's piece in the LA Times today about Obama and his "arrogance". I'm putting that in quotes because I think the jury is still out on that. Personally I can see where Goldberg is coming from and he makes several great points. But what is a measure of a president? When faced with adversity? I can agree with Goldberg when he writes that Obama's team is wrong in thinking that a bad recession makes this the toughest time to be president, but with the election coming I think we'll really have an easier time deciding if Obama is truly arrogant.

Up to this point, legislatively, Obama has had it easy. Very rarely in these modern times do presidents get such huge majorities in both chambers of congress and, frankly, passing laws should have been very easy. But if the pundits are correct and the republicans make huge gains in November, Obama will be looking at a huge wall of "No!" to any laws he proposes. If he is willing to moderate himself politically I think we will see a more humble president than we've been getting.

And to me that is a sure sign that he's not as arrogant as Golberg is making him out to be. Any president that is willing to eat crow, admit their defeat, and move on is one that believes more in the office than themselves.

Do You Miss Bush?

Nile Gardiner of the UK Telegraph has a short piece on the recent rise in popularity of former president George W. Bush. I was kind of shocked to be honest. Are people that fed up with Obama that we've become so nostalgic for Bush? Personally, I'm not in the camp that misses him. That's not to say that I don't respect him, which I do, or that I didn't think he was a good president, which I'm still on the fence over, but I think his time was over when he left office. It was time for fresh blood and while the new president doesn't seem to be fairing well at all that doesn't make me pine for the good old days.

The reason I'll always respect Bush goes all the way back to 9/11. As I've mentioned before I went to Rutgers, which is fairly close to NYC and so pretty much everyone at that school had a link to someone who was there. (I won't get into my own personal links here, it's a long story.) I feel that in the days and weeks after the tragedy Bush really did a great job in channeling the raw emotions of the public and helped bring the nation. It obviously wasn't bound to last but his actions at that time really helped a lot of people get through all of it, I know it helped me a lot.

So what do you think? Do you miss Bush at all? Would you rather he still be president over Obama? Or do you think people are being unfair and not giving the current president a chance?

Obama care already failing before it starts?

It would seem that if this article from Big Government is true, the Obama Healthcare plan is in a lot of trouble. According to the report it has already missed a third of its major deadlines for implementation that was supposed to get it working by 2014.

This is so far from surprising it, it's like saying oxygen is needed for breathing. A bill this massive was obviously not going to go smoothly during the implementation phase and I think it will find a lot more pitfalls as time goes on. For Obama this does not bode well. In two years he's going to have to explain all the problems it's been having and if its waaaay behind schedule it will be a huge albatross around his neck that the republican challenger (whoever that is) will be able to choke him with.

But I bet you a thousand pesos that the taxes related to this will be right on schedule! This is what is really going to hurt his chances come 2012. All of those taxes and nothing to show for it. If Obama doesn't get this fixed, and soon, he's going to see a major backlash by the public and really give a boost to all the calls to repeal the bill completely.

Wonder Twin Powers De-Activate?

Ed Morrisey over at Hotair is reporting that David Axelrod has quashed the Biden/Clinton vp switch rumor. As a republican I'm glad they've decided to quell the rumor and keep Biden. He's been coming off like an idiot, plain and simple, and can only really hurt Obama. But the lover of politics that I am can only think that this was a bad choice on the administration's part. For those not clicking the link, let me summarize it. There hasn't been a VP switch since FDR and these sort of rumors have been going on with pretty much every recent president. The article then makes the claim that because it has been so long since a Veep has been dumped that it would look like an admission of failure on Obama's part.

That's a fair assessment but not one I think is totally true, if you happened to read what I wrote about the subject yesterday you'll know. In the case of Cheney, I think Bush viewed him more of an asset than any negative poll numbers could offset. And while Quayle wasn't the brightest of VP's, he was the least of H.W. Bush's problems, no matter how popular and hilarious those old skits on SNL were.

Ed Morrisey argues that people tend to vote for a president and that the vice-president is inconsequential. I can concur with that statement for the most part but that depends on the vice-president. During election's their primary job is to do no harm BUT if they are charismatic and have already made a name for themselves then they can be a big asset (again look at Teddy Roosevelt). I still think that Hillary would be a bigger boon to Obama than Biden can ever be and for her, if Obama IS reelected and IS successful in a second term, it would pretty much catapult her into the presidency. It's win-win for both of them.

Wonder Twin Powers Activate!

Drudge is reporting that the White House is looking into the possibility of having Hilary Clinton combine forces and replace Joe Biden with her as vice-president. Frankly, as much as it pains me to say it, this is not a bad idea. Biden has been pretty much worthless as a vice. Typically that position has been as an attack dog for the administration, but Biden has been more effective at putting his foot in his mouth. As much as people hate him, Cheney actually did his job perfectly. And if anyone ever follows the greatest president of all time (hint: Teddy Roosevelt) one of the reasons he was attractive to McKinley was because of how out-spoken he was.

Having Hilary in there would be a good call. She would be exactly what Obama needs to bolster his public support in the polls. Her time as Secretary of State has given her the international clout Obama needs, she's been keeping her head down and staying out of pretty much all US politics so her like-ability numbers are way up, and she has the power of Bill on her side. The former president has done an amazing job rehabilitating his image over the years and that can rub off on her and in turn Obama as well. Also if the recent Gallup poll is to believed Obama's numbers among whites is abysmal: 36%. Clinton can lend her influence among women to help bolster his numbers and increase his chances at reelection.

Now in case you didn't read the article, no one from the White House has truly gone on the record and said that they are looking into it. Bob Woodward is the one who is really making the waves here about this rumor, but he's had his hand in the whisperati of the political elite for a very very long time, so this will probably be an idea that will gain more traction as time goes on. Especially if the elections are as bad for democrats as many are predicting.

Ding Dong the Rahm is Gone.

So Rahm Emanuel has formally quit his job as chief of staff for Obama. I for one couldn't be happier for the president. It has been noted (here and here and here) that Rahm is sort of a jerk to everyone he comes in contact with and there are a lot of rumors going around saying that a lot of the tension between congress and the president has come from Emanuel's abrasive personality and management style.

It seems that the main reason for Rahm's leaving has more to do with his desire to be the mayor of Chicago than anything else though. Since he was a congressman several years ago, and now as the chief of staff to the president, there really isn't any question about his capabilities of handling the actual job. But will he be good for Chicago? That I'm not so sure about. If he keeps up the trend of pissing off people in power there now he may have a tough time getting elected. But it is Chicago. It's a rough and tumble city so who knows? Maybe he is perfectly suited for the job.

Interesting fact: Rahm's brother, Ari Emanuel, is actually the person Jeremy Piven's character on Entourage is based off of. Looooooyyyd!

Everyone is leaving the party!

Rasmussen has a new poll out showing that people are leaving both the democrat and republican party at a pretty steady rate. Some would argue that this is because of voter frustration with both parties and a desire for a change of course in the way we do politics.

I'm not so sure. I think that while both parties have had a decrease in numbers, the republicans have a better footing over-all. For example, if you ask most tea-party members where they stand politically, you are more likely to here them call themselves "conservative" rather than republican. While they may not identify with Republicans out-right they are still fired up and ready to go to the polls and vote that way. Democrats on the other hand are becoming despondent about their chances in November. Plus many on that side are feeling betrayed by the party leadership and how they haven't delivered on the nebulous "change" promise.

Also there's the deflation of the cult of personality that Obama created during the '08 campaign. It's difficult to translate the energy he generated into sustainable interest over the long term, especially when you have to act more "presidential".

I've been a little back and forth as to how the election will turn out but I feel (a little more now after that poll) that things are still pointing to a big year for Republicans...even if these that vote for them don't actually call themselves that.

Does anyone know the answer???

Obama today endorsed John Stewart's "Rally to restone Sanity" today. Has this ever happened before? I'm asking anyone if they know the anser to that. For the life of me I can't think of any president doing that. Not that its totally worng for him to do it, since it is the presidents right to his own free speech, but I'm curious to know if this is setting a precedent or at the very least a modern precedent.

Go to Hell? Sorry that's a line crosser.

Maine gubernatorial candidate Paul Lepage had an interesting comment today regarding what he would say tell President Obama to, "Go to Hell!".

Seriously? Have we given up on decency completely? If I lived in Maine I'd probably vote for him since I slant to the right but after that fun little comment I'm not sure I would. Look I'm very dissatisfied with the way Obama is handling things but there's no need to start cursing at someone. Especially from a distance. Its childish and indicates a personality trait that I don't like in a candidate. Again I don't really like what the president is doing but he's still the freaking president! It takes a lot to be in that position no matter how you handle it. He should have shown a little more respect.

You created the Apathy, Mr. President.

Read the MSNBC article here. Obama's apparently has made a half-assed attempt at firing up the base.

It would seem that the President is scolding his base for not being very enthusiastic this election cycle. Honestly, what was he thinking? First off are decent portion of those who voted for him was the youth vote. While impressive at the time, that is clearly not a group to have any sort of faith in over the long term. Secondly, the middle-class independent that voted for him are leaving in droves because they haven't felt any impact on his "reforms" except in a negative sense. Yes he can say he cut pay-roll taxes for the majority of people but honestly how much was it? Most peoples pay check increased oh ten to twenty bucks a pay-check. While all together that's a nice chunk of change, on the day to day that is pretty much bupkiss.

The oil spill, while not his fault, was made to appear poorly managed by the press which has really hurt him over the long run, I think. With gay rights he has severely misstepped and not done anything to help them. While it's not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, it is one that can kill confidence in his base. On top of all that he clearly handled the health care bill poorly, which has become fairly unpopular as time goes on, not to mention seriously eroded a lot of political capital.

So a little, Hey guys cheer up!" is not really going to fire anyone up. In fact, I think his comments are probably only going to piss more people off.

How strong is the Tea Party?

The Telegraph has a very fascinating article regarding the Tea Party's rising clout among US voters. I'm always one to take polls with a large grain of sand but when you are putting up numbers saying that over 50 percent of likely voters are more inclined to vote for a tea party backed candidate versus just 37% saying they would vote for an Obama backed candidate, it makes you sit up and pay attention. While yes there is still a lot of time left before November the trend has been favoring republicans and the tea party for a while now. But as some of these Tea party candidates start getting negative press, such as Christine O'Donnell, it may turn off voters in differently areas. Granted the flip side to that is if tea partiers and those sympathetic to their cause start to feel that a particular candidate is being treated unfairly, their may be a bigger anti-incumbent back lash because of it.

Wasn't he supposed to be smart?

Powerline has a great post this morning regarding a speech Obama made to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus the other day. I have to agree with the guys over there. There are so many flaws in that speech it's difficult to figure out where to start criticizing it. I do have to take issue with their final comment regarding Obama's "advocacy of the American idea". He's not advocating America first in that statement, especially since he ends with a "Si, se puede". He merely trying to get the CHC on board and gin up votes come November. He's telling them what they want to hear, nothing more.