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Title: Obama and the Trouble With Voting 'Present' (looks more like Jimmy Carter all the time.)
Source:
WSJ
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100 ... od=WSJ_Opinion_BelowLEFTSecond
Published: Jun 10, 2010
Author: Karl Rove
Post Date: 2010-06-10 11:57:28 by Badeye
Keywords: None
Views: 13220
Comments: 62
Obama and the Trouble With Voting 'Present' Weak and radical, the president looks more like Jimmy Carter all the time. By KARL ROVE When Barack Obama announced he was running for president in February 2007, Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report wrote "Obama's history of voting 'present'" in Springfield, Ill.—even on some of the most controversial and politically explosive issues . . . raises questions . . . Voting 'present' is one of the three options in the Illinois Legislature (along with 'yes' and 'no') but it's almost never an option for the occupant of the Oval Office." Mr. Gonzales's words were prescient. Barack Obama may now be president, but at times he appears to be merely present. That has been the case with his response to the environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. The president was late recognizing the disaster's magnitude, late in visiting the region, late in approving requests by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and late in feigning outrage. He has never offered an independent plan to stop the leak. Mr. Obama also seems disinterested in hearing from experts about the spill. The White House's "Deep Water Horizon Response Timeline" doesn't list a single meeting between Mr. Obama and industry experts, though he did send Energy Secretary Steven Chu and others to Houston May 12 to meet with BP and others. .Yet while the president says his Noble Prize-winning energy secretary has been "examining every contingency," Mr. Chu was clueless about BP's plans to install a cap over the well to funnel oil to a vessel on the surface. As the New York Times reported last Saturday, "After the cap was successfully placed, Mr. Chu wondered aloud why oil was still spewing." BP engineers had to explain that oil was still coming from vents that "would be closed very slowly to ensure that mounting pressure would not force the cap off." Even now, Mr. Obama looks like a spectator, albeit an angry one, barking at White House aides to "plug the damn hole" (now that's a good idea no one has thought of) and telling NBC's Matt Lauer he's in search of an "ass to kick." But the main political behind that's being kicked is Mr. Obama's. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll says Americans give the federal government a 69% negative rating for its handling of the spill, compared to a 62% negative rating for Washington's handling of Katrina in August 2005. This pattern of being merely present has been apparent almost since the first days of the Obama presidency. He may unveil his mighty teleprompter to help pass what Congress has drafted, but this White House seems strangely disconnected from crafting legislation. .For example, last year's stimulus was largely drafted by House Appropriations Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin, one of Congress's most liberal members. As a result, what passed was a wasteful spending bill rather than an economic growth package. And faced with a growing mountain of debt, Mr. Obama passed the issue off to an ineffectual commission whose report is due after the election. After growing the size of the federal government by a quarter in just over a year, he now says he'd like agencies to try to find 5% cuts in their budgets. .On other controversies—the attempt of high-ranking aides to entice candidates not to challenge incumbent Democratic senators, the details of cap-and-trade legislation, the resolution of big conflicts between the House and Senate versions of financial regulation, and the drafting of comprehensive immigration reform—Mr. Obama appears to be removed, distant and detached, unwilling or unable to provide the adult supervision Washington requires. The result is that he receives a 38% approval and 52% disapproval rating on his handling of the economy in the latest Economist/YouGov poll. The GOP enjoys a nine-point lead over Democrats in Rasmussen's latest generic ballot. This is causing the public to revisit concerns it's had about Mr. Obama since he clinched the Democratic nomination in March 2008. Then the ABC/Washington Post Poll reported that 46% of Americans found him too "inexperienced" to be an effective president, the highest number ever for a major party presidential nominee. In October, just before the election, ABC/Washington Post asked the question again: 44% called Mr. Obama too inexperienced. On issue after issue, Mr. Obama is providing plenty of evidence to validate those concerns. Americans might hope the president's diffidence when it comes to the hard work of government might mitigate his more extreme liberal tendencies. No such luck. Mr. Obama is an odd mixture of passivity and radicalism. He's happy to be a cheerleader for policies (like nationalizing health care) that many Americans find dangerously liberal. The country has had another president both weak and radical at the same time: Jimmy Carter. Mr. Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of "Courage and Consequence" (Threshold Editions, 2010).
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 21.
#1. To: Badeye (#0)
October 24, 2006: And then of course, there are his math skills in evaluating a two-person race:
Hilarious that they want Boy Blunder to be held blameless while accusing Obama of going down JC Blvd...
All previous oil regulations and policies were replaced on January 20, 2009 as evidenced by the behaviors seen on this forum.
The irony is the fact nobody gives a damn about Bush at this point. Least of all posters like me. He's been out of office going on 17 months. I'm more worried about 17 months FROM NOW.
Yet while you claim that you disapproved of the GOP from 2001-2006 and voted to FIRE them, you post crap from the guy who was the chief architect of the biggest expansion of federal spending since LBJ. Are you posting us because you want us to take Rove seriously, or because you are trying to show how FoS he is?
I post a lot of articles from the right of the political spectrum. I'm not interested in your view of Rove. I am interested in what you might have to say about anything contained in the column.
You need to drop the thread manipulation shit.
You need to kiss my ass...(laughing)
#22. To: Badeye (#21)
More tribal baloney from a Hagee supporter. LOL
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestKARL ROVE
Washington, D.C.; October 24, 2006 - Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and President Bush's chief strategist, says he doesn't believe the public polls that claim the Republicans are likely to lose the House and possibly the Senate on Election Day. Rather, he explains in an interview with Robert Siegel airing today on NPR's All Things Considered today, he's looking at other polls that combined with the Republicans large financial advantage over the Democrats, could point to a Republican victory.
#3. To: go65 (#1)
#6. To: war (#3)
Hilarious that they want Boy Blunder to be held blameless while accusing Obama of going down JC Blvd...
#8. To: mininggold (#6)
#13. To: Badeye (#8)
The irony is the fact nobody gives a damn about Bush at this point. Least of all posters like me.
#17. To: go65 (#13)
Yet while you claim that you disapproved of the GOP from 2001-2006 and voted to FIRE them, you post crap from the guy who was the chief architect of the biggest expansion of federal spending since LBJ.
#19. To: Badeye (#17)
I'm not interested in your view of Rove. I am interested in what you might have to say about anything contained in the column.
#21. To: mininggold (#19)
I'm not interested in your view of Rove. I am interested in what you might have to say about anything contained in the column. You need to drop the thread manipulation shit.
Replies to Comment # 21. You need to kiss my ass...(laughing)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 21.
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