Obama Raises the Bar for Future Presidents
UPDATE: Despite the issues that arose this week around Daschle and Killefer's tax problems, I stick with my assessment that Obama has been handling these challenges exceptionally well. "Embracing error" as he did over the Daschle appointment helps to diffuse opposition and lays the blame where it belongs -- with the President who appointed these folks. But you could tell Obama was angry and disappointed!
In his first two weeks in office, President Barack Obama has raised the bar high for future presidents. Not in a very long time have we witnessed this degree of organization and efficiency in a new president and his administration. Bill Clinton's first 100 days (not to mention his first 10) were fraught with mixed signals and mistakes. He didn't have an Attorney General until March. George W. Bush's first 100 days were spent in an effort to persuade Americans he was legitimately the President after the Supreme Court's silent coup.
President Obama has not only shown a high degree of organization, but his tone and political ear have been, well, what's the opposite of tone-deaf? Pitch perfect? His success in these first two weeks has forever changed our expectations of a new President and how he or she should behave.
Some of the ways in which Obama has raised the bar are as follows:
1) His Transition Team was highly effective and pretty leak-proof. Teams of up to 50 people had been assigned months before to analyze the departments and agencies and recommend, not only names of potential leaders, but ideas for reform. Just the example of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) alone show not only thoroughness but discretion. What have you heard about those agencies and their work from the Transition Team? Not much and that's the good news. Both are huge government bureaucracies and while there are many opportunities for reform, there are also thousands of people doing their job and doing it well. Leaking ideas about reform would serve no purpose at this point other than to raise fears and expectations without any basis of follow-through.
2) He has kept "drama' to a minimum. Although there have been several appointments that were handled awkwardly (e.g. Hillary Clinton to the State Department, Leon Panetta to CIA, Bill Richardson to and then out of Commerce), Obama did not allow himself to get mired in the debate. Obama's team refused to comment and that left the press without much to comment on for attribution and the issues dried up and died.
3) His actions been highly symbolic but mainly satisfying to his political base.
Obama ...spent the (first) day planning to push his $800 billion stimulus package in the house and senate. His first phone calls as president were made to leaders in the Arab world. He also placed limits on lobbyists and froze the salaries of White House employees making more than $100,000 a year as a gesture to stop frivolous spending in Washington.
On his second day, he signed an order to close Guantanamo Bay and, together with his new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, announced George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke as special envoys to troubled areas of the world. Few presidents in modern history have burst out of the starting gate with so much force.
4. He has made substantive and important decisions, quickly and decisvely. A real decider. And on the subsequent 10 or so days, in no particular order, he has been to Congress several times to meet, not only with his Democratic supporters but also with Republican leadership and has invited them to the White House as well; he has invited CEOs to the White House to hear their views on the economy; he has established daily briefings on both Security and the Economy; he has named all but one of his Cabinet appointments ; he has visited his daughter's school; he had a cocktail party for both Republicans and Democrats after Republicans failed to support his Stimulus bill; he has won praise from many sides the political spectrum for his bipartisan appointments.
The first bill he signed was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; he reversed the Global Gag Rule for family planning and abortion services; he gave his first interview to an Arab news network, Al Arabiya which drew widespread praise from Arab and Muslim leaders alike; and that is only a partial list. It doesn't even include the new Middle Class Task Force he established on Friday January 30th to be headed up by Vice President Joe Biden.
Not that either the Left or the Right has been completely satisfied with some of this. They have not. To mention a few things - pulling family planning out of the stimulus package; appointing some lobbyists when he said he would not; saying "I Won" to Republicans; giving Rush Limbaugh a platform; failing to incorporate some of the Republican ideas for stimulus. This may just mean he is really doing something right.
But the image of a President rolling up his sleeves (literally) and getting to work on time and staying late; speaking through a Press Secretary (Robert Gibbs) who is knowledgeable, has his ear, and funny to boot; a First Family and First Lady who have kept themselves out of the spotlight these first two weeks despite many demands from the public for more, more, more....all this has not been seen in recent memory
How has Obama accomplished all this? Three main reasons: 1) He believes in and rewards organization and efficiency; 2) He makes decisions and sticks with them; 3) He trusts experience and has selected people around him who have it, who have learned from the mistakes of previous Administrations, and who are flexible enough to change.
The question that remains is - will this translate into real change? Does this forever raise the bar for future Presidents? Who if anyone could do this better - now or in the future?
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actually, make that BERGTHOLD for HSS...even
It has less to do with electing a Democrat vs. Republican and more to do with electing just a truly intelligent man to the Presidency
hey! bush made decisions and stuck to 'em too. how do you think we got into this mess in the first place? stay the course was the rallying cry if i recall correctly.
Of course, that was after they were already proven to be either not working, or so wrong it was tragic.
I tell people by 2016 Obama won't be remembered with the Reagan's and the JFK's. He will be remembered with the Lincoln's, Washington's and the FDR's. The greatest to ever do it. His oppurtunity (an oppurtunity he recognizes and is more than willing to take on) to change America as we see it is almost unlimited. Be prepared to watch these next 8 years closely, because it feels like we are living history in the making.
Especially if he hauls the whole nation so deeply into debt we never get out. Especially if he continues with his rank hypocrisy of saying one thing (lobbyists, energy conservation) and doing another (hiring lobbyists, cranking up the heat in his own quarters). Especially if he postures about ethics, and closing prisons, but then expands renditions, and leaves himself loopholes.
But his biggest folly is the stimulus bill. We will all go down for this.
Take a look around you Beth. We're already just about there and it had nothing to do with Obama; you can thank Bush for the mess we're in, and in part BC as well. It will take a President like Obama, and the support and hard work of the American people to get us out of it. And here you are already summing up his tenure, opining on his legacy after a whole 11 days in office! lol He's done more good in his first 2 weeks than Bush did in 8 years. Gee, hope you were as vocal over the past 8 years, pontificating, as Bush was trashing our Constitution, civil liberties; back in the "good ol' days" whilst BC was having *** in the Oval Office with an intern. And you're upset about a personal chef? Lots of ha*te in your comments I've noticed; let go of it and you'll feel lots, lots better.
P.S...She lost, get over it.
I agree with every single thing you cite.
I will go one step further. There is an awful sinkling feeling in my stomach that this whole Obama thing has been a hoax, just like the "war on terror" was, as if Bush made a deal with Obama that he would be handed the WH only if he plays ball and allows the dictatorship to continue. Am I crazy or what?
They WANT the economy to collapse because of some mad New World Order??????
And that's why the bankers and high rollers are grabbing all they can get before it happens?
Did FDR or WWII end the depression? In either case, WWII made it history.
It did so with excessive government spending, on many things that had no 'economic' benefit- a bomb is essentially equipment that self-destructs, and on some things that did - like infrastructure. If it takes that kind of spending to reverse an economics death spiral, doesn't it make sense to just do it, without waiting for a war's justification?
While I support our President I think this article is extremely premature.
So far all our President has succeeded in doing is getting elected.
Although I have faith that he will follow through and get things done and I sincerely hope that his ideas change our country for the better only time will tell.
"So far all our President has succeeded in doing is getting elected".
slara - in all humility may I suggest reading the post before commenting? Just a thought.
I read it. I just think the headline is pure hyperbole.
Might I also say he has changed, forever, how campaigns will be run. The first campaign I followed was JFK and I was one year short of being old enough to vote for him. I have followed every campaign since then, being a bit of a junkie about them. I have never seen a campaign so organized, so on message and so forward thinking as the one he ran.
How refreshing to have a candidate that could simply deliver a message, debate other candidates polices and positions and not result to Swift Boating and Kneecapping or personally attacking another candidates character.
He truly energized those of us who were fed up with Politics of Division. A candidate that embodied both charisma and intellect. Now that is a rare thing indeed.
Oddly enough, I thought his campaign was TOO perfect. Too polished. He never once allowed himself room for gaffes, mistakes or even the slightest hint of failure. It is no wonder that people regard him so highly. He is, in so many ways, too good to be true. He has set the bar too high. I am now predicting that he will lose a great deal of his base supporters as they begin to realize he is human and will inevitably make mistakes. And, I fear that this will only paint him as a bad president in the end, because there is simply no way for him to realisticaly live up to the expectations he set forth in the campaign.
It feels like we're about three months into his term, not two weeks, just based on how quickly everything's going.
Interesting. Then why is he telling future presidents they can be as criminal as Bush was and not have to face any consequences?
That may be because they may be able too, if the news I'm hearing is correct. I'll hold out hope that Obama will push for the legal mechanisms to correct this. We shouldn't be electing a king, just a public servant. But that appears to be the way the rules were written.
We ARE electing a king. Obama has been running for the position of King of The World, which he will inevitably create if we do not show some rational objectivity toward his possible mistakes. And he WILL make mistakes. He is only human, despite what many of his rabid supporters seem to believe
And I voted for him, by the way. I do not regret my vote, "yet" but I see a day coming soon where I will regret having contributed to his Leo Decaprio "I'm king of the world" complex
Thank you.
I have read a lot about the imperfections of Obama's 10-day-old administration, and informed, serious people are indeed setting a high bar.
It's nice to read something like this post that recognizes how well Obama has performed.
Of course, the results-oriented reality-based community (i.e., progressive liberals like me) will be ever-vigilant, and will hold our elected officials accountable for the ultimate outcomes. If nothing else, this is what will set us apart from the dismally-failed GOP of the last few decades.
...and on that note, what is this crap about continuing illegal kidnapping ("disappearing") aka rendition:
http://www
Thats my president!
There will never be another Barack Obama. There shouldn't be.
If America elevate her standards, we will never again accept anything LESS than brilliance in our leaders.
Obama is doing his thing. WE are held accountable who we vote for.
This time, WE hit a homerun.
Will WE do it again?
The Obamas are a class act. Hallelujah!!!!!
Yes, WE will do it again in 2012 ;)
I could not have said it better myself.
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