Jul 092011
At this stage of the Obama Presidency, it is generally acknowledged even by supporters that Obama’s administrative abilities are weak to non-existent. Now, even his political skills are being doubted.
Ed Driscoll points out that Obama has created quite an array of potentially displeased constituents, many of whom possibly supported him in his 2008 run:
… starting as a presidential candidate, Obama has:
- Called for bankrupting the coal industry.
- Raised gas prices by forcing domestic production to a crawl.
- Demonized bankers and automatic teller machines.
- Went to war against Fox News, talk radio, and Twitter user Kevin Eder.
- Alienated Wall Street, which backed him in 2008 — and will probably do so again.
- Nationalized the car industry.
- Forced Chrysler to terminate 25 percent of its auto dealers.
- Demonized Las Vegas.
- Alinskyized the Chamber of Commerce.
- Blocked Boeing from expanding into a Right to Work State.
- Is busy transforming the insurance industry into the equivalent of quasi-government utilities.
- Created an uncertain (to say the least) regulatory environment, making new hiring a challenging proposition.
- And is now Alisnkyizing private planes, despite having temporary custody of the greatest “private” plane of all.
So who has Obama not angered:
Other than ambulance-chasing trial lawyers, leftwing, uber-PC Hollywood, Silicon Valley (where Al Gore sits on the board of Apple), and the would-be builders of the Ground Zero Mosque, is there any sector of American business who isn’t furious with Obama? But of course, because of social issues, unionization and sheer inertia, they’ll all vote for him next year, right?
The last question is presumably rhetorical. While The One may have few doubts that he can reclaim those he alienated, there are many other Democrats whose doubts are growing. For sitting politicians, “hope and change” is a slim reed to risk a career upon.
