One of the striking things that this week's elections forcefully represents is the dramatic erosion of trust in President Obama. Two years ago he hadn't yet earned our confidence, but he did inspire deep trust. Our frustration with his leadership has not just been disappointment with specific policies that haven't worked. The frustration and the anger seem also to come from a feeling of betrayal -- feeling that we trusted the wrong guy. The elections don't really show any movement to "the right guys." They just demonstrate a vacuum of trust -- the triumph of suspicion.
This can be fixed. Here are three things Obama can do that would help.
1. Show you understand. For all the smarts of the team, for all the capacity for soaring rhetoric, the administration became consistently associated with being out of touch. The notion that Obama is an elitist isn't just a phony charge drummed up by mean-spirited attack ads. The appearance of elitism comes from a sense that the president's team "just doesn't get it," that they are insensitive to the plight of ordinary Americans.
This can be fixed. The president and his team must rediscover their abilities to connect with people who are suffering from the systemic economic dislocations of the last few years. This will mean articulating priorities that resonate with the visceral concerns of the millions of people who feel that their economic futures are doomed to steady decline.
2. Show you are competent. When I was in Washington recently, I heard some members of the administration complain that people hadn't really understood how bad things were when they came to office. One told me that trying to fix the economy was like arriving at a party at which people had been drinking for days: all the party-goers were sick and intoxicated, and yet one had to work with them to set things right. The health-care bill, financial reform, saving the entire banking system from ruin -- these were major accomplishments, saving us from a much deeper national catastrophe. But despite the fact that the deeper catastrophe was averted, few were giving the administration credit for that because things are still so bad for so many.
The lesson of these elections is that when you own the problem, as the Obama administration did when it took office, you have to provide more tangible evidence that you are competent to fix it. It's not enough to say that things would have been a lot worse without us. Health-care reform and financial reform were major long-term accomplishments, but the only thing that will matter in the next two years is visible progress on jobs.
This can be fixed. Visible efforts at job creation and consistent attention to the plight of the unemployed will make a difference in how much trust we put in the competence of the administration. Creating jobs without spending money is impossible, and the administration must continue to emphasize this basic fact as it comes to terms with the new realities of the Republican Congress.
3. Show you have the grit to get the job done no matter how much work is required. The president's perceived aloofness and his deliberate style, even in crises, have been understood as a lack of engagement. An essential element in any successful leader these days is the willingness to work as hard as his or her followers. Whom do we usually trust outside our families? We trust our teammates when they play hard alongside us, our co-workers when we know they are doing their share of the job, our neighbors when we stand shoulder-to-shoulder to get something done.
This can be fixed. President Obama can begin to reweave the fabric of trust with more of the American people when we can see how his concerns are our concerns, that his work is our work. He can restore confidence in his capacities if he shows he understands the most pressing problems in the economy, displays competence in dealing with them, and demonstrates the work ethic to get things done.
There is plenty of time for President Obama, politically speaking. But there is very little time for those living with economic catastrophe. We might be tempted to throw up our hands or just display contempt for any possible improvement in American public life. That would be a disaster for the country. We need understanding, competent and hardworking leadership right now. We need our president to earn back our trust.
People know throwing money at a problem does not make it go away, esp when its goverment tossing the money around.
Infrastructure jobs are not perm jobs, its called feast or famine work for a reason.
so we added 150k more jobs going into the Holoday season... GUESS WHAT!!! THATS NORMAL......
He took on a massive undertaking, 8-10 years to create. It won't and can't be repaired in two years, much less four. With CEOs, Wall Street and Greed, Inc. not wanting to see change that will help Main Street, this may very well take 10 years to repair.....if not longer!
You do not think much of the Common American at all.
That Ignorant mass was they same mass that broke away from England, and Formed this nation.
And they have done a pretty decent job since then of picking people to run this nation.
How you can endeavor to offer prescriptives for the Obama administration without exhibiting knowledge of his legislative accomplishments perplexes me. The generalities you offer may or may not help. But you can't engender my trust in you without first displaying some understanding of the administration's policies and their effects. As a primer, please convey to the readers some sense of your understanding of the following acts of congress: 1) the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, 2) the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and 3) the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Maybe it's too much to expect you to historicize a mid-term election cycle in which the sitting party retained control of the Senate as more than a "dramatic erosion of trust" in the president. However, it is within reason to expect a transparent ideologue to at least start with the facts.
You seem to forget the role the supreme court played in this elections by allowing " citizens united. they opened a floodgate that poured huge sums of money against the democrats and allowed lies to become truth . He was elected by the American people ,he did a great job considering that he inherited a huge MESS and the media did not help in informing the American people of his accomplishments. Now that we have a man in charge who cares for the common man you seem to be disappointed. I know you want the power back to the republicans and It seems that no matter what reality dictates you still stick to a script again and again and again hand the words of senator Jim Demint a tea party republican lover who on election night told msnbc" the tea party is made of democrats and liberals'. halleluia.
There is no rational reason to continue to support Obama. Obama is the Dems as the Tea Baggers are to the GOP -- only less successful
While no one knows the political landscape in 2012, we have see that Obama is so clueless as to be beyond hope. He is totally in the dark on the economy thinking that being wall street's lap dog will help us recover. If Obama had "gotten it," Geithner would have been fired by now.
If Obama 'got it," the DADT appeal would have been dropped.
If Obama "Got it," we wouldn't be such a weenies agreeing to simple surrender why tiny, tiny advances he obtained without getting any in return.
If Obama got it, he would not still be talking bipartisanship. The people do not want bipartisanship; they want results. everyone except the Jerk in Cheif knows that bipartisanship is non-existent and only a total fool would continue to talk about it. Let's add a Dodo bird toe each zoo also.
DUMP OBAMA
"If Obama 'got it,' DADT appeal would have been dropped. No, you don't understand how government and the legal system works. The executive does has limited authority thru executive orders, and it cannot unilaterally terminate a law passed by Congress, which has failed to act. The courts are ruling DADT is unconstitutional, but these are lower courts which have value for the person suing, but they do not set the final precedent, nor do they over-turn Congressional law-- only SCOTUS can do that, so appealing to SCOTUS keeps the options open-- very important now after a disasterous election giving the House back to the GOP. What chances does DADT repeal have with a GOP controlled House?
I have no idea what you're talking about "weenies agreeing to simple surrender" or "tiny, tiny advances." The legislative accomplishments of the past 21 months have been in historic proportions, not "tiny tiny." I'll list them for you if you'd like.
With GOP controlling the House Obama now has no choice but to talk bipartisanship. Otherwise, why bother even trying to pass legislation?
"DUMP OBAMA" and what do you expect to get? GOP in control of the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Brilliant strategy, Sherlock. How did you think up this one?
"The number of unemployed persons, at 14.8 million, was little changed
in October. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent and has
been essentially unchanged since May."....
BASICLY your using only the part of the data that fits what you want, not all the data... there has been no real gain in jobs vs loses since May......
And this is the problem, people are getting all the info and seeing that things are not as many are claiming. The info is out there, people are going now and getting that info.
For a very enlightening perspective on this and other aspects of the fall of the American Empire watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHle_turjes
these banks should have been broke down to smaller groups where the failings of a single bank would not toss the whole nation into a panic.
in October. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent and has
been essentially unchanged since May. "
Yeah really great news, the Job markets it not gaining at all.... And i bet those 151k jobs were lower paying then the ones they replaced.
So, you really think Obama should have vetoed a bill immediately ending denial of coverage to children with pre-existing coverage, and a few years later same for everyone of all ages-- no denials. You're saying nothing is better than something. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's very "progressive."
Because you are so prideful, you'd starve yourself rather than compromise.
How did you vote in the mid-terms, or did you?
I, for one, want a real Democrat in the White House who is willing to speak for his party so that We the People can determine who our truly allies are.
I'm an old Democrat, and aside from the fact that it's none of your business who anyone here voted for, I voted for a straight Democratic ticket. Look at the outcome. The Democrats that were thrown out of office in this election were predominantly Blue Dogs. Very few Progressive Democrats were ousted.
This is all about BRANDING. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
they're precious teaparty who demanded we 'end the debt',..hasn't even been sworn in and are already claiming 'They have to raise the debt, to hand the wealthy 2% a 700million tax break.." and their number one objective is taking out Obama".Where is debt reduction and job growth in that?.What's
the point..in thinking sanity will prevail?. People will fall for this too as well as adding to our debt, then maybe the answer is to just leave this hopelessly stupid country because I doubt any one is going to stand up to these scary stupid people, or the Corporations that run them and I'm tired of the game.This country is not what I grew up thinking it was and I wonder if it's worth it to remain in.It's self destructing.. and instead of growing in the right direction it's going backwards to some fanatic time when religous crazies ran things.
The people have failed Obama by succumbing to emotion when reason is needed most urgently. We shoot ourselves in the foot and blame Obama for our bloody feet.
No the American people got tired of watching a majority party not be able keep thier own members in line to pass laws. and when they did the laws were not what the public wanted.
How many bills have been passed where members have not even read them? A LOT.
People are not as stupid as you seem to think, and we are tired of this 2 year failuar.
According to one exit poll in Washington state, of those who voted in this election and voted for Obama in 2008, fully 10% said they were voting GOP. There's our problem. The 10% who feel betrayed and went over to the other side, not just stayed home. What were they thinking? Were they thinking anything at all except feeling rage?