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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Obama must listen to Bill Clinton to get re-elected

Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 02:58 AM

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The news that Barack Obama is behind Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in a new national opinion poll and even with Sarah Palin will surely give the White House much food for thought.

How does President Huckabee sound to you? Or President Palin? If the election were held today they seem at least as likely as Obama to win.

It signals a major reversal for the Democratic Party in the midterm election for one reason only -- they are unable to get their message out starting at the top.

In the era of the one-word sound bites, Republicans are outmaneuvering Obama and his fellow Democrats in the all-important message stakes.

The fact is that a Republican president caused the financial collapse, led us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and relaxed regulations that allowed the Gulf Oil spill.

Clearly the party has sided with the Wall Street fat cats in the regulation battle, and opposed health care for all. That should make them cannon fodder in any election framed around Wall Street versus Main Street issues.

Despite all this, the party is leading Democrats in the race for the White House and will make major gains in November.

What gives? Sure the electorate is disgruntled and rightly so, but they seem to have trained their sights on the president. His poll numbers among independents are in the tank and therein lies his real problem.

The Republicans communicate their message better. They may be blocking every piece of legislation that Obama is attempting to put through, they may be negative more than positive, but the public perceives them as doing a better job.

Here's my advice to Obama: find your voice. You remind me of the 'Barney' kids series on PBS where each character has an indoor and outdoor voice.

During the election campaign you were using your outdoor voice, inspiring millions. Now you talk as if you are indoors all the time, your voice can barely be heard above the national noise.

Fire Rahm Emanuel: He's the hard-nosed insider who has shut you up and played a cynical game of insider politics that has gotten you nowhere in the national popularity debate.

There is no sense of vision, no sense of leadership just a daily diet of he said/she said on every issue.

The presidency is not about insider politics, its about a bully pulpit,a coherent message and a vision. Articulate that.

Final point and most important: Listen to Bill Clinton. He was the first two-term American Democratic president since Roosevelt for a reason.

He had a direction, a vision, and a purpose to his presidency after a rough start just like you.

It is clear now that a term in executive government, say Governor of Illinois, would really have helped you hone those governing as against campaigning skills.

Go to the man who has had experience in both.

There is a reason Democratic candidates are clamoring for Clinton to campaign this fall rather than you -- he connects on that visceral level.

You need to do that too, and there is no better teacher.

Following Clinton's political example can be the key to a second term.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 20, 2010, 06:02 PM EDT

Dennis, you're right that 2010 will not be a repeat of 1994...which is far too mild a comparison. And of course you don't see Obama for what he is (a jackbooted elitist) because you like and support the stuff that makes him one. You're just not honest about calling it what it is. You're right that voters are looking for a take-charge type in Washington, and that is PRECISELY why they've turned against Obama so much -- he's not taking charge with the things he should, and he IS taking charge (or rather, taking OVER) where he SHOULDN'T be: banking, auto production, health care, etc. The Repubs may be timid and lacking in putting out a clear, unified agenda (by themselves they're a very weak party) but with the entire country increasingly unified against Obama and his party, simply not being Democrats is a pretty appealing trait in and of itself -- and this is why the Repubs even in their current state are not only likely to pick up the House but very possibly the Senate as well...and that is the undeniable political reality today, Dennis, as you've seen by some of the political observers I've posted from even LIBERAL media such as Time and CBS...and other than a feeble attempt at self-comfort and/or sheer defiance I'm unsure what you'd base anything less than that on.

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McNamara31 | Jul 20, 2010, 12:22 PM EDT

oneofeleven..This is very interesting..... (Google it) The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a graph that breaks down the actual causes of the deficit. Together with the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the "entire" deficit over the next ten years.

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oneofeleven | Jul 20, 2010, 11:15 AM EDT

DC is out of touch with reality - politicians are spending this country into bankruptcy. With less than 50% of citizens paying taxes and the massive entitlement programs including the new "free healthcare for all" we have a serious problem. Term limits for Congress is the only answer to stop this madness.

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DennisQ | Jul 20, 2010, 03:44 AM EDT

I don't see Obama as a jackbooted elitist; where are you coming from with that? People don't think of Obama as some kind of dictator. If anything, they are disappointed that he hasn't been more forceful. Survey respondents indicate that the president should have intervened more quickly to fix the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. He should show more leadership in ending the recession. Republicans are comparing Obama to Mussolini at a time when voters are looking for a take-charge guy in Washington. Republicans will have to convince voters that their "ideas" - such as they are - are more likely to succeed. Republicans propose to pick up where Bush left off, with tax cuts, militarism and xenophobia. That's a tough sell, I think. The Democrats may lose some seats this year, but 2010 will not be a repeat of 1994.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 20, 2010, 02:41 AM EDT

And talk about 'no shame,' Dennis...that describes the elitist, jackbooted regime we have in Washington nowadays, not the right...and it's precisely why Obama's in such deep doo-doo right now. Again, are you going to call the people stupid for not liking Obama?

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IrishAndProud | Jul 20, 2010, 02:38 AM EDT

Dennis, blaming George Bush is all guys like you have left...and it doesn't work anymore, either, otherwise Obama would be a wee bit better off politically than he is. Now what are you going to do, call the people collectively stupid for not liking Obama and piling it all on Bush?

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DennisQ | Jul 20, 2010, 02:22 AM EDT

Blaming George Bush for America's current troubles isn't a bad idea at all. The man was such an incompetent that people are doubtful that government can get anything right. We weren't in bad shape when Clinton left office. We weren't at war, people were working, and there was so much money in the Treasury there were fights about what to do with it all. After eight years of Bush-Cheney, it was hardly the same country at all. Long costly wars on two fronts; an economy mired in recession; and government deficits so large that our grandchildren will be stuck paying them off. We're told that the reason Bush keeps such a low profile is that it's traditional for former presidents to do so. It's more likely that Republicans are deeply ashamed of him, and those folks don't shame easily.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 19, 2010, 07:26 PM EDT

"Under pressure, the Democrats are cracking. On both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, there is a realization that Nancy Pelosi's hold on the speakership is in true jeopardy; that losing control of the Senate is not out of the question; and that time, once the Democrats' best friend, is now their mortal enemy. Since January, when Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, the President's party has tried to downplay in public what its pollsters have been saying in private: that Obama's alienation of independents and white voters, along with the enthusiasm gap between the right and the left, means that Republicans are on a trajectory to pick up massive numbers of House and Senate seats, perhaps even to regain control of Congress." [END QUOTE] This is from today's edition of TIME MAGAZINE (yeah, what a right-wing rag), from an article titled 'Dems Start to Panic as Midterm Reality Sets In.'

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IrishAndProud | Jul 19, 2010, 06:55 PM EDT

At this point, American, unless something changes rather drastically (and soon) in the domestic political sense I don't know that you have to worry all that much about a Dem victory.

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American | Jul 19, 2010, 05:55 PM EDT

2010 and you still roll out GW Bush to blame. Obama promised "change we can believe in". What we got was politics as usual and America just won't tolerate it any more. THIS President has divided us. HE is responsible for resolving the Great Recession, the BP oil mess, immigration chaos, and the war in the Graveyard of Empires - Afghanistan. Perhaps if he listens to Mr. Clinton he will also lose control of Congress and be impeached retiring in disgrace. Are you sure you want a Democratic victory?

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IrishAndProud | Jul 19, 2010, 05:41 PM EDT

And YOU, McNamara, cannot wait to NOT answer charges, which you are quite fast yourself to lodge against others. I posted below that your blaming talk radio for fanning 'hate' smacks of you wanting to outright BAN it from even being there...and you did not even respond to that, nor the fact that it has been OBAMA and his gang who are the ones governing against the will of the people. All you have to do is turn the radio OFF, McNamara, if you don't like what's being said...and if you cannot stand the fact that someone somewhere is disagreeing with Obama even if you're NOT listening to it, what other conclusion is there but that you don't even want the dissent practiced?

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IrishAndProud | Jul 19, 2010, 05:33 PM EDT

Oh...and health insurance premiums are already starting to go sky-high, because of Obama's hell scare deform (again, exactly as he planned)...leaving inferior, beaurocrat-run health plan to be in charge of our lives. Ahhh...I feel better already...must be the pain pills that Obama suggested popping before we let ourselves die...

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McNamara31 | Jul 19, 2010, 05:28 PM EDT

IrishandProud.. Da!......... I reposted it, because it related to the TexasGirl post. Man your little fingers can't wait to jump right in there.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 19, 2010, 05:25 PM EDT

You're on the outs, McNamara. The longer you defend this dufas Obama, the sillier you look.

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McNamara31 | Jul 19, 2010, 05:23 PM EDT

TexasGirl...You never let me down. You hit most of my "most posted smears" I posted earlier today. And then, you go on to state "it's not because of the color of his skin but".......You know what they say about everything after "but"

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