So she spoke on November 3rd. Trial seperation it is. Mr. President, the gloves are off, there is no need for metaphors or analogies. Lets have some real talk. I could not vote for you, but I could campaign for you - so I did. In watching you with Hilary in the 2008 elections, I noticed that you really try to stay above the fray. Even when she kicked you in the shins and trampled on your fingers, you would ignore her. You only roared when she would body slam you onto the ground and reach for the jugular. Then you would spring up like and cobra and fight like your life was at stake.
Well the life of your presidency is at stake now. I am going to ask you to drop the cool and collected composure. Yes I know it is against your nature, but the American people need to feel like you feel their pain. it is no longer enough to say you are also frustrated. Flare your nostrils, heave your chest, widen your eyes. Do something because the pressed lips does not cut it. You are not like most people, you are more intelligent, more evolved, but inorder to get the tide on your side you need to show some blue collar emotion once in a while.
Do you see Michelle when she hits the trail? She combines high level intellect and ground level passion in a way that resonates with everyone. Please tell the White House handlers to get her out of the vegetable garden and use your best asset! We want to see more of Michelle. I want her explaining the impact of your economic agenda. I want her to tell the marginalized story of how you saved the American Auto industry. I want her to talk about the fact that the Banks have paid back the loans with interest. I want her to talk about the fact health care reform did not go as far as the left wanted but damnit, it will help over 30 million Americans and it lays the foundation for further advances in healthcare. Whilst we are on the topic of strong women who can connect, engage Hilary with the public. I know she has an important job which takes her across the world, but she I am sure your strategist can find a way to make her a more visible figure with an audible voice for your platform.
Mr. President, you made categoric promises to certain groups. Honor your word, repeal DADT. The LGBT group do not easily forget disappointments but they enthusiastically reward any attempt to empower their rights. Reach out directly to women and your base and get them on your side again. You are one of the best communicators in the history of American politics so why are you saying "Can you hear me now?" I know why. You do not like to brag. But guess what? America responds well to bragging. Why do you think George Bush was so popular? Think of it this way; there is a difference between bragging and drumming in your achievements, and you need to do some drumming. You remind of a really smart guy I went to school with. His name is Charles. This guy joined us mid way through a very academic stream and blew us away with his extraordinary high marks. Like you, Charles never boasted about his extraordinary achievements. In fact you would never know that he got 100% on a test unless you asked him. But unlike Charles, you cannot afford to be modest, you need to amplify your achievements through a megaphone inorder to blow out the wax from ears of the back biting Press.
No more high level intellectual talk. Rein your people in and curb the party resistance. Force the hard issues and hold every member of the House accountable when the tom foolery sets in. Mr. President I am on your side and so are the American people but you cannot let your brash opponents take over your historic journey. Wake up or the tea they are brewing will be served at a 2012 farewell party.
P.S. I will be listening to you at 1pm I hope Robert Gibbs forwards the message to you by then.
This article is a follow up to an earlier one called Barack - a love story or a breakup
Well said. We the people who supported the President will never leave you alone so we need your loud voice to echo across these red and blue states and turn them purple as you have said. I love this piece. Thanks.
love it…..and very well said. our president has to re-connect with the people…and he has to remember that it was the people who put him there. he tried to hard to please republicans and look where it got him. you see bush? he did whatever he dam well wanted without asking anyone anything. barack has the right agenda in his head and heart…he just needs to put it into action and let the "people" know he hasnt forgotten about them.
I don't think the life of the presidency is at stake. One glorious thing about American politics is that the voters seem to have very short memories, and respond only to recent events. That's why the same voters that gave the republicans a sweep of both houses in 1994 reelected Clinton with a landslide in 1996. The same voters that were terribly indecisive in 2000, went all out for the republicans in 2002. The same voters that re-elected Bush and gave the republicans increased majorities in congress in 2004, kicked the republicans out of both houses in 2006. And of course, the same voters that elected Obama by the biggest landslide in a long time, and gave his party huge majorities in Congress, have now reversed those same majorities. So the results of today are no indication of what will happen in 2012. Two years is an eternity in politics, and the election results of 2012 will be dictated by events in …. 2012.
If anything, this result puts pressure on the republicans. Yes the republicans gained control of congress, but the approval rating for republicans is congress is much lower than Obama's approval rating, and this election result was more of a rejection of congress than a rejection of Obama. Republicans are now under pressure to agree with Democrats and Obama on a legislative agenda. If Obama fails to push through legislation in the next two years, he will be able to rightly point to republicans in congress and accuse them of blocking progress. If the newly elected republicans in congress fail to get some legislation through, they will have to answer to angry voters in 2012. They made a lot of promises to get elected and they are going to have to deliver something.
I agree with David to a point. Americans are very fickle and forgetful when it comes to politics. What Obama has in his favor that Bush didn't have is that people actually like him. And so even though the Democrats have had the majority in the house and the senate for the last 4 years, BUSH was the face of their failure as the sitting president, not the Democratic party. When the Republicans fail, and they will, it will not go down so with Obama. He will be viewed sympathetically as a victim of circumstance, not the villain as Bush was/is.
David I agree with you, I guess my concern lies in the fact that Obama is a staunch consensus builder. That has its merits but when you have some people who are determined to undermine your efforts, is it necessary to keep compromising your policies at the risk of losing your supporters. When i Say his presidency is at stake I am referring to the Tea baggers who have been voted into power who want government out of their lives, but they still want gvt to create jobs and they don’t want their social security touched…I look forward to the rest of the year. I believe Obama will rise to the challenge
Malaka, but the rancourous voice of the extreme right wingers is so loud that they will push any failure on Obama. As i say, my man has to go hard. and i mean HARD
Short of Barry going nuclear, I don't know what else he can do. When he's cool and velvetty- People say get pissed and fight" but the reality is he is and if you follow legislation and not politics you'll know he's been a very effective legislator. If he's raucous and cantakerous they'll say " see there we - as if his critics voted for him, he's just another angry black man. In reviewing some data this week I found something that doesn't strike or surprise me in the least. Most right of center grass roots efforts were funded by Wall St and hedge fund managers. THE VERY SAME MOFO'S HE BAILED OUT FIRST and without restrictions, and now they've all healed their wounds and turned on him in unison. This is what happens when you build consensus in a cannibalistic environment. He should have capped all companies receiving bailout money earnings, his next step should have been prohibiting them from lobbying and contributing to political campaigns, but he didn't and now he's losing the PR battle to the very same arses he decided to bailout first. His wife can't take a vacation, he can't take his wife out for an evening on the town nor can he perform head of state duties without being criticized. Never in the history of this country has a leader been so unfairly castigated by those he steered clear of disaster. He's made tremendous strides for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters but nothing is enough for these people and they are never satisfied. Where the hell were the voices of the gay and lesbian community when Cheney- whom's eldest daughter is gay- was in office? And now they want the President whom was born with two strikes against him to get into the weeds on a wedge issue that doesn't give him a lot of political capital. The president shouldn't have to fight every battle. These people should have been fighting this battle with Bush and Cheney. There's a PR battle being waged and Barry can't win it on his on beco's the Right has FOX, CNBC, Fox News and all of talk radio on 24/7 pontificating their very narrow, very easy to follow message "Less Taxes and Less Regulation" plain and simple. Now tell me "What's the Left's message? There isn't one cos they're afraid to say "More Taxes and More Social Responsibility". Until dems get their hands around this they will continue to lose the PR battle. One more item of note before I bounce. When politicians legislate effectively they should lose their jobs every four to six years beco's this indicates that they are tackling the tough issues that are in the nations long term interests- It's called checks and balances. The Judicial is selected by the Executive and is confirmed by the Legislative with the latter two being voted on by the people. So fret not, the people spoke on Tuesday as they have on the first Tuesday of every Nov for many a decade but in the midst of the blow out something amazing happened and we shouldn't lose sight of it. This was the most active and effective Congress this country has had in close to 40 years which means they were legislators and not politicians. Barry ran under the mantra of hope and change. Well his initial hope guided in change of monumental proportions. Which is why one day in the future Nancy Pelosi will have a building named after her- not for being the first Female Speaker of the House, but beco's she was the leader of the legislative body of the nation that passed some the most effective legislation in the young history of this nation and easily of the past 40 years. Now that's Change we can all believe in.
Doomed if you do doomed if you don’t. which is why I never understood why he invited them to dinner over and over and over again. On the DADT, Cheney never promised to repeal it. Obama did, so i hope he finds his way around that. Nancy Pelosi is my girl. I would love to interview her. I love her cause she does not play. I believe the president should not have left so much to the house as their rancour stained his credibility. Your comments are always on point