As election day shapes up as a probable day of infamy for the Democratic Party and Barack Obama one thing is clear: historians will point to Obama as the quintessential example of someone who ran a good Presidential election campaign, made great speeches, organized and mobilized voters and convinced his party to put its fate in his hands – and who didn’t live up to advance billing once in office.
In a sign of how far he has fallen, the debate is on over whether Obama will wind up being seen as another Jimmy Carter (who could campaign but was a seemed over his head in office) or another Bill Clinton (who took a political beating in his first mid-term, found the media asking about whether the President was “relevant” and turned to triangulate and pick smaller issues to get victories). The way it’s going, any day now expect Obama to be attacked by a killer rabbit…
The extent of Barack Obama’s political depreciation is seen in a new Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll that found that one-quarter of those who voted for him before are now defecting to the GOP or considering voting against the Democrats. Only half say they definitely will show up Nov. 2 to vote. Meanwhile, independent voters have been fleeing Obama and the Democrats in droves. And despite Obama’s campaigning, the GOP still is 5 points ahead in Gallup’s generic ballot.
The temptation is to say “It’s the economy stupid,” or, “It was those groups spending money for the GOP.” Or: he didn’t have a chance against the Republicans’ potent info machine of talk radio and Fox News (whose boss News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch proudly defended giving more millions to Republicans to “change” Washington). But the answer is far more complex.
Look at what we’ve learned so far about Barack Obama.
Read the rest HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.