Arianna Discusses Obama's Leadership on Charlie Rose

Arianna appeared on "Charlie Rose" on Thursday night, along with presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat, to assess President Obama's handling of health care reform. While praising Obama for being a "natural born teacher," she was critical of his leadership skills: "He is demonstrating a preference for compromise and reconciliation even before the fight has been fought." She contrasted him with FDR, who rejected compromise with both Republican and Democratic senators who sought to water down Social Security, concluding of Obama: "He's a pied piper but he has not taken a strong stand on health care reform or on Wall Street reform."

Watch an excerpt of the interview below, or scroll to the bottom for the full panel:

Full Panel:

Comments

[lilalove]

Yes, her beauty is match by her passion and intellectual insights. :)

[killmenow]

I disagree, Arianna, although not entirely, that the leadership style of Obama is a matter of temperament. I suspect at this point that what the corporate interests want is what Obama also wants. I suspect that above the interests of Americans, Obama sees himself most basically as a leader of the Democratic party, and he has aligned himself with Rahm Emmanuel to ensure that corporate lobbying money goes to Democrats and not to Republicans to solidify Democratic power through funding and influence amongst lobbyists. Look at everyone he chose for his cabinet, including Tom Daschle, whose nomination was canceled. Obama's interest is Wall Street and corporate interests. We don't yet know why, but it may just be a paradigm of thinking according to modern-day Washington- where power and influence does not come at all from ensuring the welfare of the American people but from corporate money to fund campaigns. He's wrong, but it may just be the voters that learn the lesson about how the two-party system works, and Obama may not learn that lesson at all. We'll see. Judging from what we've seen so far across the spectrum of American interests, I have my doubts.

[can-am]

From what i have seen in president Barack Obama, I can certainly say he is the smartest I have ever seen! the way he set's up the nay sayers such as putting a female latino out there and basically telling the republican's "go ahead do your thing" he knew they were going to! holding back on the stimulus so they can let the repub's say it ain't working! my hero mr. Obama has something cooking! everyone know's he is a great closer! just wait and see!

[Courage2BTrue]

Everybody wants change without paying the price. All significant change occurs going against the grain, going against conventional wisdom (and action). What most patienceless people expect is that somehow Pres. O. was going to waltz into Wash. and change things overnight. Ain't gonna happen. He is bringing a new style to Wash. I'm proud of him for staying the course. It takes true courage to keep trying to bring about bipartisanship in this environment. Most people are used to, and comfortable with, the old way of doing business. Now we're in a panic because things are working in our familiar way, but we said we wanted change. the problem is that we want change and revenge. Revenge requires doing things the old way. There's nothing new here. This is what Pres. O. said he would do.

[can-am]

Where is the common sense? if the republican's can brain wash people to vote for anti-abortion so we can have more unwanted kid's to go fight the rich man's war that they themselves coward to go. well they always say we will go to war no matter WHAT THE COST!!!
Well how about health care for all americans NO MATTER WHAT THE COST!!!

[allenosuno]

The problem is a mixture of Obama's lack of leadership skills AND an oligarchy that has no trouble talking the public into believing and supporting policies inimical to reform and inimical to the public's own best interests in the interests of short term bottom line profits for big corporations. One sees stupid bloggers across a variety of websites parroting the GOP and Mainstream Media-fed talking points. The demise of independent journalism and the rise of big corporate, monopolist right wing owned news media like Fox News and GE and Disney and Viacom which own respectively one of the major networks each, has brought us to a place where that segment of the public that is dumbed down and gullible is becoming the majority. They don't know what to believe because ignorance and gullibility and laziness have converged in our public to make them incurious and accepting of whatever they are told to believe. Obama has been a failure at heading off the monopolist propaganda barrage and his unfortunate penchant for collegiality plays right into the hands of the right wing noise machine headed by Pork Limbaugh. The Republicans have been in charge of both houses of Congress from 1994 to 2006 and the major media for about as long and the right has sold the public on a lot of its mythology. We face an uphill battle.

[TSAQ]

(PSALMS 142:1-4) How I plead with God, how I implore his mercy, pouring out my troubles before him. For I am overwhelmed and desperate, and you alone know which way I ought to turn to miss the (TRAPS) my enemies have set for me. (There's one--just over there to the right!) THE LIVING BIBLE PARAPHRASED

[deegee99]

If God hasn't helped the people being butchered in Africa, Asia and South America, I doubt any help will be forthcoming on our health care reform.

[einstein10]

Arianna- I posted this several days ago here on HuffPost, and there was a big response. I'd like to know your opinion.

Can we please get straight to the point?

What exactly do other countries with universal coverage charge for annual comprehensive health care for individuals?

I have read that Holland charges approximately 100 euros (less that $150) per month.

Let’s find out exactly what it would take to offer that here.

If the price is right, Republicans AND Democrats AND Independents would buy it.

[LCLA]

I'm sure the answer would have to be far more complex than the simple black-and-white answer you seek. The direct costs are pretty simple to provide usually, but a meaningful cost analysis would need to include the many hidden costs among the variables. Healthcare costs as percentage of GDP might be a mainingful comparison.

[tiger313]

I'm frustrated too but I'm not giving up on Obama. Come on, he was able to get more than half of America to vote for him and we are and were, prior to the election, a nation of racists. Anyone that won't admit that is swimming upstream. All of the opposition to him is based on racism. These blue dogs and republicans hate that a black man is sitting in the WH. Anyone afraid to grasp that will not make any progress.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

I voted for McFlip-Flop. My opposition to him is predicated upon his being a weaker leader than Jimmy Carter.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

I care not for his race. I care for his inability to lead.

[gerrysue]

Arianna and Doris Goodwin have both indicated that we need the Public Health Insurance Option if we are going to bring down the cost. I respect their opinion and I hope people start showing support by contacting their Senators and Congressmen.

I agree with Arianna that President has shown he has less skill as a leader to get this done. Too much time wasted t with the GOP who will not vote for anything no matter how watered down they get it. President should say o.k. we are going to go back for the Public Option with single payer and sit on the Democrats, blue dogs and half of the gang of 6. Mainly Conrad and Baucus.who should be supporting the Public Option.

[Hysterian68]

Democrats should be taking this opportunity to light a fire under the Obama team to get out, conduct a coast-to-coast whistlestop railway tour and push for the single payer plan. Yes, the very plan everyone from Obama himself to Senator Conrad say hasn't a chance. Has anyone tried it lately?

We haven't waited 75 years to get everyone covered for everything for nothing.
Expensive? You bet is is. Like all major foreign health care plans, the single payer option will be dreadfully expensive, but dreadfully necessary to control the growth of future expenditures. We cannot have any health reform on the cheap. If it means destroying the health insurance industry, by all means let's do it!!

Only the Republicans offer us a painless and a profitable way to cover health costs.
Their dallying with mythology is their problem. Liberals don't need to indulge in the same myth-making. The case for the single payer plan can be made and should be made now, or we will lose any chance of true reform for another 25 years or more.

[Cowboylove]

The real problem with health care reform is that people who have it do not care so much that other people do not have it. The message that needs to get out is that businesses will not be able to continue to provide health care coverage. The cost of health care has actually resulted in declining wages for working people over the past 8 years. Flat wages will not be enough in the next eight years.

If health care premiums double in the next ten years as projected, businesses will stop providing health care coverage. That much is certain. Part of the GM restructuring was eliminating a large part of the benefits packages Unions had. Worse time lay ahead for all of us. We need a public option, a buy in to Medicare. We all need to have our own portable health care through this system.

The desire to stay with an employer based health care system is untenable. No matter where you stand on the issue, employer based health care will be gone in 15 years.

[Susan Kovalinksy]

I fully and unequivocally AGREE!

[Marie Godbout]

I agree totally with Ms. Huffington analysis.

And I hope the President will not take lightly this very sound and complete conclusion coming from one of the best commentator of US politics in my point of view...

Time to be nice is over, Mr. President. Meanwhile, I hope you will fully enjoy your vacation with your family...not too far away from Teddy's spirit... May the beautiful and inspiring Martha's Vineyard and its people bring you some time for a deeper reflexion, away from the noise of the Capital and of the mad crowds.

[ojim]

I for one have learned over the course of his campaign that Obama practices a sort of political Ju Jitsu. Experience seems to tell me that he always has a very complex move that he is making that will ultimately force everybody's hand and give him a victory. However my instinct is that he may have been tripped up on this one.

I'll watch and see, but perhaps in a round about way providence may be getting us more engaged in this debate. Quite frankly, WE did drop the ball, by we I mean progressive citizens and Democrats. The President is out on the field virtually alone, no mass uprising, no politicians with backbone. Perhaps by playing wounded he is showing us the urgency of action that is upon us. Then again maybe he is getting clobbered.

[bilding]

Arianna is bright and a delight to listen to but on this one she has it wrong. The President must allow his opponents full measure of the extent to which they will go to kill this initiative and show their true colors. This includes the Blue Dogs, the GOP, big Corporations and simply those who him despise him for who he is. The really serious work has yet to begin. The so called town hall meetings were largely a sham. The strident voices against reform were simply the GOP and big money yelling louder than reasoned debate could speak. The President knows this and will bring his own strategies to bear when the time is right. Few battles are rarely won in the early going, and if anyone has firsthand experience with this fact, it is the President.