The Obama presidency has been harmed by many things. Some of these are the horrible heritage of a bungled, four trillion dollar war left behind by George Bush and others come from the disgusting racism encouraged by the Republican Party. Beyond all that, however, there is another issue.
That issue is a failure of the President to teach the American pubic about reality. This President is a rare species in our political life .. a deep thinking academic. Unfortunately, that intellect does not bring with it the talent to corral the satraps of his party the way the Kennedys or the Clintons did in their eras and for their causes. Imagine if Ronald Reagan had the intellect to understand the issues!
During Obama’s watch complex issues of foreign policy have devolved into simple ideas about to war or not to war. The clear need for middle class jobs gets lost in debates over using tariffs to protect American workers. A focus on the Black family gets submerged by the happy layer of success of gay marriage. The Republican blasphemy on climate change becomes less toxic because of Democrats fighting for the XL pipeline.
These issues are not really between the Democrats and the Republicans. Obama’s failures are issues that divide the country’s intellectuals and academics from the average Joan who gets her news and facts from Fox. Democrats are often as doctrinaire and blind to facts as are Republicans. The Republican devotion to climate denial, opposition even to first term abortion and promotion of creationism have left the GOP with no foothold in the technocratic and academic world. Democratic opposition to school reform, focus on medical marijuana, and belief in protective tariffs are less extreme but also lead to a failure of Mr. Obama to bring the academic and intellectual community to his side.
Why is Mr. Obama unable to use his oratorical skills to sell rational policy to his party and the country?