Leading up to the break in the presidential campaigns, Barack Obama spoke confidently about his ability to lead the economy; quipping ecclesiastically about the poor leadership of the Bush administration. He had, he claimed, been multi-tasking between the campaign and dealing with the economy by phone with his fellow Democrats. Everybody liked his ideas, his plans, and even John McCain was adopting them. Everything was ok in his view and let’s get on with the campaigning.
The myth fell apart in front of a large assembled crowd of national journalists and cameras yesterday as Democrats and Republicans battled furiously over pork-barrel issues. Democrats were more interested in telling the cameras that they didn’t need John McCain around to solve the problem, but it was clear they were a long way from solving it themselves. Elizabeth Dole stepped briefly in front of cameras to remind people that she and John McCain had previously proposed regulation that would have averted the crisis.
Barack Obama made his biggest political mistake by not putting country before personal ambition. I am still of the conviction this was a rookie mistake that will end up amplifying his lack of experience and political maturity. He amplified the problem yesterday by being more concerned with political posturing – who gets the blame and the credit – rather than trying to contribute to a solution.
Barack Obama’s name is not as clearly associated with the Democratic Party’s position on addressing the problem. It might be that in the game of political positioning, it’s not a good idea when others are clearly not admiring his skills and knowledge and happily jumping on-board with his proposals. And it might also be because the Barack Obama fingerprints on proposals are starting to lead to something of a CSI investigation leading back to his associations with shady, untrustworthy political figures and organizations.
Warner Todd Huston reports on the Democratic Party’s attempt to pork-barrel funds returned in the $700 billion bailout proposal, making them available to groups like ACORN, the National Urban League and the Hispanic group La Raza. Chris Adamo opines that Americans should be gravely concerned about Barack Obama’s relationship with the groups as an outgrowth of his experience as a “community organizer.”
