I have never been in a more appropriate situation to use the phrase: I told you so. Unfortunately, being able to say it right now isn't giving me the satisfaction you would expect from a statement with such a HUGE underlying 'ha! ha!". If you're wondering what I'm referring to...just read the news. You know, those articles in which, with only minimal squinting, you can clearly make out the silhouettes of Bush and Paulson. My question, strong as ever, resounds from way back during the primary season: Why Obama? (not to be confused with the version that is asking Obama why...I am using the version that is saying why him) Somehow I missed the Obamania train and I'm looking on as everyone is going crazy as the train pulls away, wondering if it was the water that they had spiked with false hope and fluff.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Obama. (Patriot Act, please cease to exist for a moment) He is nearly as Democratic as any other Democrat. He generally votes along Democratic lines and his campaign platform as well as his speeches are all of the Democratic vein. (Patriot Act, get back to existence). I guess my problem is the disparity between Campaign Obama and President Obama. Obama had an amazing campaign strategy that certainly attests to his intelligence and finesse as a politician. He preached about hope and change and a new era of government responsibility. I'll admit, even I was tempted to hum a little tune and add a little hop in my step after hearing some of his rousing speeches. I guess I'm jaded though because I quickly wondered if most of what he was saying would turn out to be fluff. I was hoping I would be proven wrong. I don't think he's stupid or foolish and I really don't think he's a bad person. But I do think he's unprepared. He came into this position as a fresh face, as someone who has had no experience in Washington. Some people may be focusing on Obama's gray hairs as of late, but I guess I'm distracted by the bib that reads "I'm a big boy!". I don't think Obama has what it takes to lead this country out of the recession we're in. He has a shot at being a good president (even apart from popularity scales) but I don't think now is the time.
What I find frustrating about all of this is that he beat Clinton with a misleading stance. (Disclaimer: I am not a Hillary Clinton supporter either.) I guess I can chalk that up to his finesse as a politician but correct me if I'm wrong..didn't he use the oldest tricks in the book to win? I don't understand how he could beat Hillary by presenting himself as a 'Messiah of Change' and then just revert to old politics once elected. Obama was his own biggest campaign promise. I feel cheated. I really hope he gets his act together or we will really be in a lot of trouble. He still has time to correct things but as Krugman aptly notes in his NYTimes column, with every month of inaction (or the lack of productive action) thousands of jobs are being lost. When will Obama rise to the task at hand? And how many job losses will it take for him to stand up?
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