There has been much talk lately about liberal apathy and unreasonable expectations of the President feeding GOP scorched earth/divide and conquer tactics. While this may be true, and unfortunate--as well as something that needs to be reversed immediately--those of us who continue to support President Obama have every reason to be dismayed over his tenure in the Oval Office.
Sometimes you can control end results; often, you cannot. That's not what bothers me. However, not putting up a proper fight truly does irk me. If you'll permit me a dried up sports analogy...it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. And Obama's team has played a mediocre game despite much talent on the field. The GOP is not beating this administration; the White House is beating itself by making one bad play after another.
The talented team that ran a brilliant campaign has not lived up to the reasonable expectations we had, now that they are in office. Yes, it's way more complicated than that, obviously. But that's what it boils down to. Perception is the key currency in politics; it's what gets you elected and re-elected. Obama's efforts to compromise with the GOP--which was the equivalent of a straight man continuously hitting on a lesbian and hoping to score--rendered him ineffectual and weak. Irreparably so? I sure hope not. But enough damage has been done to his persona.
I thought a Chicago pol that came out of nowhere to become the first black US president would be a badass and not the milquetoast that took forever to figure out the GOP only respects fear and decisive action. Politics is a ruthless and dirty business; the GOP hate Bill Clinton not because he has a weakness for tail but because he plays dirty and for keeps like they do. Sadly, that SNL skit from last year, "The Rock Obama", is closer to the truth than anyone would like to admit.
