How far will Obama fall?

[Monkeyleg]

No matter what he does or how well he does it, President Obama cannot possibly live up to the expectations that his supporters and the media (I repeat myself) have created for him. They've built him up so far that no human being could possibly satisfy the demands made of him.

So, he will fall. I just wonder how far he'll fall, and how far the media will go to cushion his fall before they turn on him.

When the honeymoon is over, and it's Obama's war in Iraq, how much heat will he take for mistakes made there? Now that it's Obama's recession, what happens when the indicators don't show that the economy is bouncing back  quickly enough for many people?

Bush had 80% approval ratings once, and he earned them. Obama has high approval ratings but hasn't done anything yet.

What goes up comes down.

[Manedwolf]

I am more worried about what some of the entitlement sorts will do when their lives do not become a lottery win.

[wacki]

Obama is one of the greatest salesmen in history.  The economy is in freefall.  All he has to do is convince people that he saved us from total disaster.  He has the skills to do it.

The Fannie/Freddy fiasco, which apparently obama was partly responsible for via his past law firm's CRA lawsuits, has given Obama plenty of defensive ammo.  He might be able to use "blame Bush" mantra all the way to re-election.

What will happen I don't know. But things are a million scapegoats Obama can use.

[Balog]

The bad stuff is Bush's fault. Obama kept it from being worse. Srsly.

[longeyes]

If there's major unemployment and growing racial division and terrorist events in the U.S., the abyss will open up.   And, no, the press won't be able to save him--or themselves.

[Harold Tuttle]

"It's not Bush's Fault
Anymore"

[taurusowner]

Saying that BHO will fall is assuming that his followers have any intention of using facts to base their allegiances off of.  The truth is that no matter how much of an abject failure he is, his followers will simply blame everything and anything on President Bush.  BHO will have a free pass no matter what he does or does not do.  His presidency will be seen as a triumph no matter what actually happens in reality.

So to answer the question, BHO will not fall at all.  The media and his followers will simply pin anything that resembles failure on President Bush, thus totally isolating BHO from any critique.

[lupinus]

Of course he will.  He made promises to everyone and to do that made contradictory ones.  He promised conservative church going gun owners one thing and next week talked about them clinging to their guns and religion.  These are two competing groups and promises made.  One side will be pissed off.

However, I do wish him well.  Even if I don't respect the man, I do respect the office he gained in a fair and democratic election.  He did what every politician does, and he won the votes of some people he's liable to piss off.  But regardless he did so through no serious trickery, unethical practice, or fraud.  If he does well and succeeds as President (makes the country a better place for all of us while upholding the ideals this country was founded on) we all succeed.  If he fails, we all feel the pain.  If he does something considered a failure I'll be more then happy condemn him for it, until then I will remain optimistic he will do well and take a centrist position.

[grampster]

Here is how Obama fails.   His slogan "Change we can believe in" will be his undoing.  He's never explained or discussed what that change is.  Therefore all of his minions have built an individual blueprint of what "change" is in their minds.  In otherwords there are 50 million different definitions of "change", because he never defined his vision of it.

[MechAg94]

We have just gone through 8 years of a constant media bash against Bush.  You won't see the same thing about Obama. 

[2swap]

I suspect that Obama will be an American Gerhard Schröder. It is not as if any politician who is elected with so high expectations can ever fulfill them. Especially if the reason for electing him seems to be 'he's not that old guy and looks good on television'.

[HankB]

"It's not Bush's Fault Anymore"

Yes We Can It Is!

Even though both houses of Congress have been firmly in Democrat control for the last two years, even though the primary cause of our current economic turmoil is the Community Reinvestment Act (Carter & Clinton) . . . Bush is still blamed.

[Monkeyleg]

The "blame Bush" argument will only last so long, just as the "blame Clinton" one did.

It occurred to me that the media's fawning coverage of Obama, especially during the last couple of weeks leading up to the inauguration, may eventually hurt Obama. I don't know about the newspapers in your cities, but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's main section has been devoting 40-60% of page space to Obama since the beginning of the month. "Obama shoots hoops," or "Obama goes shopping." No story has been too insignificant for them to run.

Their blind devotion to the president has set him up for a fall. Not everyone is an Obama True Believer. Many people voted for him because he wasn't George Bush or because McCain didn't do anything to excite them (no surprise there). These will be the first people to grumble, and there's a lot of them.

If Obama makes a big mistake, the press can't cover for him. There are limits, even for the MSM.

[DaveBeal]

Perhaps you should wait for him to make a mistake before you condemn both him and the media.

It's too bad you guys can't participate in the optimism being felt by most of the country.

[doczinn]

Big mistake like a really stupid cabinet appointment?

[MicroBalrog]

Big mistake like a really stupid cabinet appointment?

..'a' stupid cabinet appointment?

[makattak]

Perhaps you should wait for him to make a mistake before you condemn both him and the media.

It's too bad you guys can't participate in the optimism being felt by most of the country.

I'm sorry, I don't do blind optimism based on platitudes.

How about, he shows me a reason to be optimistic beyond: "Change has come to America"?

I base my outlook on facts and expectations.

My expectations are pretty dim right now and pretty words without substance don't cut it.

[Nick1911]

I'm sorry, I don't do blind optimism based on platitudes.

How about, he shows me a reason to be optimistic beyond: "Change has come to America"?

I base my outlook on facts and expectations.

My expectations are pretty dim right now and pretty words without substance don't cut it.

Well said.  I share this view.  Obama makes people feel good about themselves without presenting any actual content.

[SADShooter]

First, I don't want President Obama to fail. I know, though, that his ideological premises have been tested and failed consistently. The only "success" he can achieve will involve betrayal of his core constituents and their beliefs, which I don't foresee. My hope is that the damage done by his policy decisions is contained and recoverable.

I think there's another step missing in the discussion. Yes, "Blame Bush" will get tired, and so will "Blame Congressional Republicans". What's left? "Blame US". You, me, anyone who didn't vote for him, didn't close their eyes and believe firmly enough in the audacity of hope, didn't put their shoulder to the wheel quite hard enough. That explanation will never grow tired. "It would have worked, if only YOU had pitched in and committed yourself, but you were to selfish and shortsighted". What failed leftist experiment hasn't been explained and justified this way?

[Jamisjockey]

Bush set the bar low.  Very low.  Obama can fail, and nobody will notice, since we should see 4 years of "blame bush".

[Harold Tuttle]

Fourth Estate May Contribute To Obama's Failure
From VandeHarris's piece, "7 Reasons for Healthy Skepticism" about the Obama administration:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17714_Page2.html

The big media companies that once invested in serious accountability journalism are shells of their former selves. The Tribune Co. -- in other words, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune -- has slashed its Washington staff by more than half. Newspaper chains such as Cox are fleeing D.C. altogether.

The end result: There are few reporters in this country doing the kind of investigative reporting that hold government officials' feet to the fire. Think back eight years to the pre-Iraq war reporting and consider the words of Scott McClellan in his otherwise humdrum book.

"The collapse of the administration's rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise," McClellan wrote. "In this case, the 'liberal media' didn't live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."

Rigorous reporting is even more important when you have one-party rule in Washington. Democrats, like Republicans, are simply less likely to scrutinize a president of their own. The end result here: Don't expect the Democratic Congress to investigate the Obama administration or hold a bunch of tough oversight hearings. That means the only real check on Obama is the same one it's always been -- the voters.

[Josh Aston]

Here is how Obama fails.   His slogan "Change we can believe in" will be his undoing.  He's never explained or discussed what that change is.  Therefore all of his minions have built an individual blueprint of what "change" is in their minds.  In otherwords there are 50 million different definitions of "change", because he never defined his vision of it.

The New Deal got FDR elected four times.  I'm pretty sure "Change we can believe in" can get BHO elected twice, even without results.

[just Warren]

To use a baseball term Bush has left a lot of men on base and the Obamies will milk those for a least the next two years.

[Nitrogen]

I think he'll actually do OK.

[Monkeyleg]

I think he'll actually do OK.

I certainly hope so, but that's not my point. Everybody makes mistakes, including presidents, or maybe more specifically presidents. He's being held to such a high standard that even a minor misstep will be shocking.

The MSM will remain waterboys for him to a point. They also have jobs, which depend upon selling newspapers and advertising. When they sense blood in the water, they'll attack.