PrintFebruary 21, 2010
Democrats seek distance from Obama as health care reform is revived
There apparently is no limit to President Obama's hubris and arrogance. He has gotten message after message on health care reform, yet insists on pushing forward with it. Polling data is overwhelming. Recent elections were likely referendums on his health care plan.
From a political standpoint, there can be no more toxic issue for Democrats. Rasmussen's latest poll (2/21) reports:
Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19. The Approval Index has been lower only on one day during Barack Obama's thirteen months in office (see trends). The previous low came on December 22 as the Senate was preparing to approve its version of the proposed health care legislation. The current lows come as the President is once again focusing attention on the health care legislation.
Just as discouraging must be the drop in the President's Strongly Approve rating to only 22%, the lowest yet recorded. The population of messianic followers appears to be dwindling.
Below the surface, Congressional tectonic plates are likely shifting. The old bulls in Congress have always had inflated impressions of their value to the world. To them, a President of either party is merely a means to accomplish their agendas. If the President is of the opposing party, destroy him. If of your party, ride him.
When Obama was seen as a magical asset, they were willing to go along and treat him with respect. As the public increasingly views "The One" as some pampered, arrogant man-child with no experience and dangerously impractical ideas, his usefulness diminishes.
It is likely that some of his Congressional contemporaries realized this risk prior to the election. After all, they served with him for some period of time. Perhaps they believed that his magic could fool the public forever. If it could, then his election would both advance the Party and their own personal agendas.
Now it appears Obama's value is diminished if not completely gone. His presence actually threatens the "family business" of the Congressional bulls. Survival trumps loyalty every time, especially in politics. From a survival standpoint, these old bulls might start treating the President of their own party like he was George Bush. It appears he may be that much of a threat to some of their political actuarial tables.
For political pundits, the next three years is apt to be like one continuous Super Bowl. It may turn out to be a political version of the infinite loop expressed on screen in the movie Groundhog Day.
Monty Pelerin www.economicnoise.com
