Lessons Learned In Obama's First Four Months, p
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ZingerKing is Published on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week.
Wed/Thurs May 27,28 2009
Today’s Zinger:
You Campaign in Poetry, You Govern In Prose
The Morning Briefing:
America is being tested. The international community is testing the President's strength and commitment, the allies are playing musical chairs and wondering if he will be a seated president when the music stops, the radical left is testing its influence and America's appetite for change is being tested.
The administration has had to back peddle on a number of commitments because they either didn’t fully consider the implications or the campaign rhetoric was more viable than the actual practice.
The Discussion:
There is no question that this administration has a robust agenda (See ZingerKing May 1, 2009). However, they seem to commit before they fully understand the implications of their actions. Whether it be international taxes, the closing of Guantanamo, outsourcing of torture to Middle Eastern allies, the surge in Afghanistan, negotiating with North Korea over nuclear weapons, bailing out failed companies (GM, Chrysler, soon AIG), exhausting the US treasury with unprecedented spending leaving little borrowing capacity for future requirements, offering an olive branch to Cuba only to receive nothing in exchange or pressing greater stimulus involvement by the G20 only be denied, the administration has demonstrated that governing is different from campaigning and they are willing to learn and adapt.
However, the real tests lie ahead.
With four months under our belt, here is what Zinger has observed in the Obama administration:
This President, like many before him, is learning that campaign rhetoric must give way to the realities of governing. It is easy to say someone else is wrong when you are not responsible and you are evaluating history. It is easy to promise what people want when you don’t have to deal with the conflicts of delivering on the promises. President Obama must be feeling the conflicts as the rhetoric is moderating and the positioning is moving more to center. The one thing constant is the American people want this president to succeed. As the bets play out (taxes, international diplomacy, universal healthcare, war on terror, government intervention in private business, education, deficit spending) we will see if the President remains as confident in his policies.
I recently heard a reporter explain one of the administration’s policy shifts as “you campaign in poetry but govern in prose”. Has our political system, and our media, come to the point where we expect candidates to say what the voting majority want to hear, deliver what can or truly needs be done and manage a communications campaign to convince the people you delivered on a promise? If so, future campaigns will be won by the candidate with the most money and a promise for each special interest group.
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
Outsourcing Torture to Middle Eastern Allies
California is going to "pot" to cure its financial crisis
Nancy Pelosi's war with the CIA
Running on empty, federal deficits
Obama's management style
Islamic Fundamentalism. Stage four religious cancer
To access these articles click here or go to www.ZingerKing.com.
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ZingerKing is Published on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week.
Wed/Thurs May 27,28 2009
Today’s Zinger:
You Campaign in Poetry, You Govern In Prose
The Morning Briefing:
America is being tested. The international community is testing the President's strength and commitment, the allies are playing musical chairs and wondering if he will be a seated president when the music stops, the radical left is testing its influence and America's appetite for change is being tested.
The administration has had to back peddle on a number of commitments because they either didn’t fully consider the implications or the campaign rhetoric was more viable than the actual practice.
The Discussion:
There is no question that this administration has a robust agenda (See ZingerKing May 1, 2009). However, they seem to commit before they fully understand the implications of their actions. Whether it be international taxes, the closing of Guantanamo, outsourcing of torture to Middle Eastern allies, the surge in Afghanistan, negotiating with North Korea over nuclear weapons, bailing out failed companies (GM, Chrysler, soon AIG), exhausting the US treasury with unprecedented spending leaving little borrowing capacity for future requirements, offering an olive branch to Cuba only to receive nothing in exchange or pressing greater stimulus involvement by the G20 only be denied, the administration has demonstrated that governing is different from campaigning and they are willing to learn and adapt.
However, the real tests lie ahead.
With four months under our belt, here is what Zinger has observed in the Obama administration:
- The
international community is testing this president. Chavez, North
Korea, the G-20 and our allies, Iran, Cuba, Russia and China. The
United States has changed from a policy of steadfast strength backed by
our military to a policy of strength through diplomacy. This is
certainly a wedge issue for many voters. Many Americans will be more
at ease with diplomacy. The President now has to prove that it will
work. North Korea firing missiles and exploding nuclear warheads, Iran
defying the International Atomic Energy Administration, Russia
partnering with hostile countries for energy security or defying US
defensive missiles in Eastern Europe, China failing to support any UN
resolution offered by the US and Israel threatening preemptive strikes
against Iran has placed the President's new policies on world display.
Either there will be meaningful concessions on the part of adversaries
and allies or the policies will be deemed a failure and the Republicans
will be shouting "the failed policies of the Obama administration".
- Pressure from the right over deficit spending has caused the administration to back away from planned spending. Slowing down the spending legislation has allowed TARP and tax cuts to take effect. Most of the “stimulus” approved by Congress and the President has not been spent and won’t be spent until 2010 and 2011, just in time for the next election but not in time to affect the current economic down-cycle.
- The” failed policies of the Bush administration” may not have been quite so failed when it came to the war on terror. Many of the issues surrounding the war on terror have been adopted by the Obama administration, with minor changes around the edges to “make it their own”. The exit timetable, the surge in Afghanistan, the use of permanent detention of terror prisoners, the use of wiretaps, the success in Iraq, etc. As candidate Obama railed against the Bush administration for poor judgment, now President Obama has the opportunity to change many policies and has not.
- The collapse of the financial markets was a liquidity issue and bad loans. The claim that the collapse was due to failed tax policy of the Bush administration was a campaign wedge issue but not true. America still does not have a change in the core policies governing the financial services industry. According to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, Chairs of the Banking and Financial Services committees for Congress, we can’t expect much change until next year.
- Positioning appears to be as critical to success as results. The administration has adopted the happy meal. We are being fed words that make us feel better. The war on terror has morphed into the “Overseas Contingency Operation”. The deficit spending on social programs is headlined under the “recovery act”. “I choose hope over fear”. Platitudes can get you elected. It remains to be seen how the public reacts to this President if results are not forthcoming.
- The
Bush administration alienated the US from much of the world. President
Obama is attempting to bridge this divide through engaging with our
allies and enemies in a different way. It is yet to be seen if the
changed dynamic results in new partnerships and improved relationships
or if it is seen by others as an opportunity to gain power and
influence over the United States.
This President, like many before him, is learning that campaign rhetoric must give way to the realities of governing. It is easy to say someone else is wrong when you are not responsible and you are evaluating history. It is easy to promise what people want when you don’t have to deal with the conflicts of delivering on the promises. President Obama must be feeling the conflicts as the rhetoric is moderating and the positioning is moving more to center. The one thing constant is the American people want this president to succeed. As the bets play out (taxes, international diplomacy, universal healthcare, war on terror, government intervention in private business, education, deficit spending) we will see if the President remains as confident in his policies.
I recently heard a reporter explain one of the administration’s policy shifts as “you campaign in poetry but govern in prose”. Has our political system, and our media, come to the point where we expect candidates to say what the voting majority want to hear, deliver what can or truly needs be done and manage a communications campaign to convince the people you delivered on a promise? If so, future campaigns will be won by the candidate with the most money and a promise for each special interest group.
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
Outsourcing Torture to Middle Eastern Allies
California is going to "pot" to cure its financial crisis
Nancy Pelosi's war with the CIA
Running on empty, federal deficits
Obama's management style
Islamic Fundamentalism. Stage four religious cancer
To access these articles click here or go to www.ZingerKing.com.
Unashamed Request:
Please forward a link to ZingerKing to friends, family members or colleagues that would enjoy or benefit from the content and discussions of ZingerKing.
What happens if the change in policy does not work. How will we recover with deficits that only our great grandchildren can repay, business with profitability driven down through government restructuring, the international community reshuffling the world order and the social net frayed from too much government involvement and spending. It seems to me this is a big gamble with global consequences and generational implications.
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