It's time for the percolator
Red, White, And Skewed
Ross Wasserstrom
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Opinion
Remember when Barack Obama was a man full of brilliant new ideas, who espoused change and unity through ingenious new, seemingly simple solutions?
During his campaign, Obama stumped change in America through very simple ideas like, "Let's work together to fix health care" or, "Let's bring our troops home," or "Let's end partisanship in congress to usher in a new era of cooperation." And this got him elected.
If you see a common thread among his statements above, you'll notice that they are a little too simplistic. You may have also noticed that his presidential strategy rests on the same principle: talk big, and then act slowly. Obama has taken the exact opposite path of his Republican predecessor in that he delays action for as long as absolutely possible.
Looking back on his campaign, it seemed as though on Nov. 5, we would wake up to see an entirely new country. Here we are though, a year later, and Guantánamo is still open for business, a huge suicide blast in Baghdad over the weekend reminded us of the dangers still lurking in the Middle East, and no more people have health insurance than they did last year (in fact, many fewer people have health care, as so many people have lost their jobs). But unlike George W. Bush, who preferred to attack one issue hard and fast at a time, Obama has all these issues simmering simultaneously. This strategy may well turn out in his favor since at this rate he could have a string of successes by 2012.
His hands-off approach has a knack for working American culture against itself. The rabid obsession in the media for fresh meat to report, combined with the glacial pace of health-care-sized legislation, have provided some absolutely genius solutions from (gasp!) our very own elected officials. Having left health care entirely in the hands of those who will have to answer for it in 2010, Obama has left the issue to separate out the cream. While he may have clever ideas of his own, he will allow the senators in charge to propose them. This gives the Democrats nice bonuses to show their constituents, and when Obama finally signs this beastly bill into law (two or three years from now) he will have accomplished what every other Democrat has deemed impossible. And this strategy has been working for everything from health care to Afghanistan.
During his campaign, Obama stumped change in America through very simple ideas like, "Let's work together to fix health care" or, "Let's bring our troops home," or "Let's end partisanship in congress to usher in a new era of cooperation." And this got him elected.
If you see a common thread among his statements above, you'll notice that they are a little too simplistic. You may have also noticed that his presidential strategy rests on the same principle: talk big, and then act slowly. Obama has taken the exact opposite path of his Republican predecessor in that he delays action for as long as absolutely possible.
Looking back on his campaign, it seemed as though on Nov. 5, we would wake up to see an entirely new country. Here we are though, a year later, and Guantánamo is still open for business, a huge suicide blast in Baghdad over the weekend reminded us of the dangers still lurking in the Middle East, and no more people have health insurance than they did last year (in fact, many fewer people have health care, as so many people have lost their jobs). But unlike George W. Bush, who preferred to attack one issue hard and fast at a time, Obama has all these issues simmering simultaneously. This strategy may well turn out in his favor since at this rate he could have a string of successes by 2012.
His hands-off approach has a knack for working American culture against itself. The rabid obsession in the media for fresh meat to report, combined with the glacial pace of health-care-sized legislation, have provided some absolutely genius solutions from (gasp!) our very own elected officials. Having left health care entirely in the hands of those who will have to answer for it in 2010, Obama has left the issue to separate out the cream. While he may have clever ideas of his own, he will allow the senators in charge to propose them. This gives the Democrats nice bonuses to show their constituents, and when Obama finally signs this beastly bill into law (two or three years from now) he will have accomplished what every other Democrat has deemed impossible. And this strategy has been working for everything from health care to Afghanistan.
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