If so, I’m only surprised that it’s taken this long, given his history. Someone should get him a Barbie that says “Governing, like math, is hard…”
[Update a few minutes later]
Is this presidency like a sitcom? If so, I hope it doesn’t run for more than one season.
[Update a while later]
He’s not doubling down. He’s letting it ride:
Obama came into office with stratospheric poll numbers and supposedly unstoppable majorities in both houses of Congress. The press has given him every benefit of the doubt, quickly propping him up after every stumble. The Beltway bureaucracy and intelligentsia have swooned like teenagers for the man. He has given more speeches, lectures, press conferences, and tutorials on his policies than any president in modern memory. In response, independents have abandoned him, conservatives have steeled their resolve against him, and liberals have lost faith. And yet, like the drunk in a bowling shirt at the craps table who insists his losses don’t disprove his “system” for winning, Obama stands behind his bet.
And he’s betting against the house.
[Update mid morning]
He’s not letting it ride, either. It’s a Martingale.
I remember that’s what they said about Clinton at about this time. His history could easily have been used to predict what happened, but I’ve always thought boredom was at least part of it. I don’t remember off-hand when Dick Morris first characterized him as essentially a person who was content-free and all appetite, but the appetite thing was dead-on and could have been driven by boredom with his job. Soooooo… just wondering if BO has any young interns around…
I think your daughters are safe, Curt. AFAICT, Obama is a good, decent family man who genuinely seems to get more joy from spending time with the wife and kids than achieving his political ambitions.
Anyone who aspires to be president and runs for office has to put their political ambitions ahead of their family. Running for the presidency is pretty much a full time job for 2-3 years, requiring frequent separations (e.g., trips to Iowa and New Hampshire). It’s just the nature of the ambition. I’m not saying he is cheating on his wife or anything, but just that he put his ambitions ahead of his family the same as any other candidate has to do.
Indeed, Larry. Which is why he should call it quits after this term. His goal was to climb to the top. Mission accomplished. Time to go back to Chicago and live a more humble and private life where he’ll be happier writing letters and gladhanding from the office of the former president.
No, he won’t go back to Chicago to live a more humble and private life. If he leaves after 1 term, he’ll be something like 51 years old. What’s he going to do with the rest of this life?
I believe he’s trying to push through cap-n-trade because politically connected insiders like him stand to make billions on the scam.
I will point people to Washington Post opinion columnist Richard Cohen’s recent piece on John Edwards titled From John Edwards, lessons on celebrity and politics. While it is mostly about Edwards, there are comments about both Palin and Obama that seem true to quite a few people (myself included) regardless of political affiliation.
Celebrity has little attraction to me. It doesn’t necessarily turn me off, but it doesn’t turn me on either.
Back in 1976 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown of California was running for the Dem presidential nomination at the ripe old age of 39, some wag wrote that Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, regarded the presidency as a stepping stone to the papacy.
Obama not being a Catholic, I’m not sure where he could go next. Hosting the Tonight show?
Except that Clinton had served as governor of Arkansas for something like ten years before becoming president.
Larry, I’m not disagreeing with you. You’re talking woulds; I’m talking shoulds.
No, that would require someone who can think fast and talk fast on their feet, like a comedian. Planetary Personality One needs a special World Community Leader post where he can read speeches 24/7 on the WCL channel. That seems to be the only part of “the job” that’s around his pay grade.