Urban Thought Collective

With his overall approval rating down to 48%, President Barack Obama didn’t exactly kick up his heels last week as the nation marked the one year anniversary of his historic election. Mr. Obama won 53% of the vote on November 4, 2008 and his approval rating rocketed up to 65% by Inauguration Day. Nobody expected the President’s numbers to remain in the statistical stratosphere, but how in the world did they nosedive to 48%? How in the world did that happen? Most of the blame lies with the stubbornly sluggish economy, but another cause is Mr. Obama’s inability to define himself as a strong, effective leader in the face of unyielding Republican opposition and relentless (often factually-challenged) attacks by conservative pundits.

Candidate Obama energized the nation with his bold promises to bring about change. But his inability (or unwillingness?) to fight aggressively for his agenda has deflated his base, energized his opposition and caused his policies to flounder.

Mr. Obama showed real toughness in defeating Republican challenges to the economic stimulus and the GM and financial industry bailouts. But he has not been effective in reassuring the public that the bailouts were beneficial or that better days are coming despite the decline in jobs. Neither has he demanded that bailed out banks to make more small business loans.

Worse yet, the tenacity that President Obama displayed in the stimulus and bailout debates has been impossible to find during the healthcare debate. He caved on the public option even before he spoke to the joint session of Congress. He hasn’t used the power of the Oval Office to rally public support for healthcare reform or to pressure the conservative Blue Dog Democrats to get behind his plan.

Lately, Mr. Obama has been dodging and ducking the healthcare debate completely. Two weeks ago, he spoke in Massachusetts. But instead of using that state’s government sponsored healthcare plan as an example of an effective public option, Mr. Obama spoke about green jobs. As if the two issues couldn’t be addressed jointly in the same speech.

This kind of lack of leadership is why some of us who were so excited about President Obama back in January have turned lukewarm. It’s also why his opponents feel so emboldened. If President Obama won’t take a strong stand for his own policies, if he won’t demonstrate faith in his convictions by convincing the public of their rightness, if he won’t stand up and fight then he shouldn’t expect anybody else to do so.

Dang. It really hurt to say that.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.

THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!

Cameron Turner is a Los Angeles-area native whose editorials, entertainment news features and audio documentaries have appeared on national radio networks, online and in print for over 20 years.