President’s Speech: Is That All He’s Got?

Liz | 12/08 at 10:08 AM

Much has been said about President Obama’s campaign speech in Kansas. Probably the best review was written by the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger, which is posted elsewhere on this site. As he points out, this was not a speech from the President of the United States, but rather from the head of the Democratic Party. It encapsulates the persistent pitch of Mr. Obama’s reelection effort – you’re not suffering because of my economic policies, but rather because wealthy Republicans have beaten down the “little guy” in order to line their own pockets.

It is an appalling address from the President of the United States. My reaction: is this all he’s got? 

The most damning failure of this administration, in my view, is their cowardly refusal to make any bold policy proposals, to lead any meaningful effort towards reining in our deficits, creating jobs, or reforming taxes. Even during the battle over healthcare legislation – the only real initiative that can be identified with Mr. Obama – the president handed off the hard work to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. To say that he is politically risk-averse is an understatement. (Note today’s stance on the “morning after” pill, the delay on the Keystone Pipeline etc.) 

Perhaps the most disappointing moment of this past three years was Mr. Obama’s refusal to support his own hand-picked National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, aka the Simpson-Bowles Commission. There is a photo on that group’s web site showing the president surrounded by those involved in that effort; the president is seated, signing the executive order creating the bipartisan commission. That was the last time he deigned to get together. He literally left town the day the commission released their proposals rather than be tainted with some politically unpopular notions. Simpson and Bowles make no effort to hide their disgust – it truly is bipartisan.

I pray that Americans are not duped. I hope they pin some – not all – of the blame for our current malaise on this uber-political president. I also hope that Mitt Romney- someone who can campaign on a record of achievement and organizational know-how- is the GOP candidate. We desperately need someone who can reignite the engines of our country’s growth. Four more years of damp pessimism and class warfare is unthinkable, and would prove so costly to those very people who are now suffering.

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