How quickly they fall – Obama’s fall from intergalactic sainthood

A shaky economy, poor job reports and a Washington spending spree have mere mortals in the trenches screaming ‘the sky is falling.’ The fix is in, the American people have read between the lines and realize the ‘saved or created’ fuzzy math when it comes to jobs just isn’t flying.


The only real number an unemployed worker can rely on is the three million jobs that have been shed since the $787 billion stimulus bill was signed into law. Since then jobs have gone away, foreclosures grew and deficits approached the unsustainable title wave status.


Yet party loyalty holds true. According to a new Gallup poll, 88 percent of Democrats approve of the freshman president while only 23 percent of Republicans think Obama has stood up to the challenge.
This translates to a 65-percentage point gap between Republicans and Democrats giving Obama the largest split for any president in his first year, according to Gallup. The last Democrat President Bill Clinton enjoyed a much lower point gap of 52 points.


While Obama still enjoys a high likeability among Americans, 57 percent, the country isn’t looking for a new best friend, they are looking for a leader.


When Obama placed his hand on the bible, his approval rating was among the highest for an incoming president, according to most pollsters. However, the spending spree he endorsed quickly lost American support.


CBS puts Obama’s approval rating at 46 percent, which translates into a big loss of the Independent voting block. And nowhere was that more evident than the recent special elections.


First there was Virginia governor’s race Obama went to help his man – it didn’t go so well, the new Republican Governor Bob McDonnell will be delivering the President’s State Of The Union rebuttal speech. Up next was Obama’s campaign pitch for New Jersey’s incumbent governor- strike two a Republican was elected. And finally the midnight blue state of Massachusetts and former Democratic stalwart Teddy Kennedy’s seat, again Obama stopped by, made his pitch, insulted people who drive pickup trucks and walked away a three-time loser.

It’s settled, President Obama listened to the voters in very blue states and decided to head to the center, roll up his sleeves and work with all legislators to get Americans back to work. Not really.

On Monday, the President sat down with ABC’s Diane Sawyer and said this; “I’d rather be a really good one term President than a mediocre two term president.” He went on to say, “I will not slow down on the big issues we face in the country.”


Looking back to the crisp clear day a year ago at a torn country in need of repair, Obama became the 44th president and he basked in the winter sun explaining his ability to bring a broken nation together. Obama let a world audience know a new era was on the horizon, one that would work equally with its partners, a hand up not a hand out.


However, after a year of apologizing Obama has received very little from its new partners. Defiant leaders from North Korea and Iran moved full speed ahead with the nuclear programs. Saving the planet didn’t go so well either as the biggest polluters China and India gave nothing at the summit in Copenhagen.


President Obama has the lowest one-year field poll since Jimmy Carter. On domestic issues the President has lost some Democrats due to either being too progressive or not progressive enough. Republicans he never had and it is the coveted Independents that have taken their vote of confidence from Obama.


Candidate Obama made lofty promises, no more back room deals, CSPAN will be there shining the light on the process and K Street lobbyist would not be welcomed at the White House. Yet bills making their way to the President are chalked full of pork and CSPAN didn’t make it into the back rooms.


Obama also had his own ‘read my lips’ moment and told the American people he would not raise taxes on the middle class. Yet he rubber-stamped a tax increase on folks who smoke cigarettes. The largest group of voters who smoke are lower- to- middle class, this translates into a tax increase.


And finally he promised a new era of bipartisanship, he would be the guy who would reach across the isle, apparently the Democratic leadership missed that memo.


The net result of Obama’s first year is disillusionment, frustration and disappointment. The longer than usual honeymoon the media offered him is gone, the fainting at the mere sight of ‘the one’ is gone and the goodwill of many Americans has now vanished.


Looking ahead to another challenging year if the President focuses on creating jobs, reducing the deficit and treating terrorists like, you know, terrorists he has a chance to regain the trust of the American people and accomplish a lot while doing so. It remains to been seen which way the President will govern during his second year in power.


Even intergalactic super stars must rely on their job performance and the fix is in, Obama seems to be another smooth politician who captured the hope of many seeking a new era and was only successful in proving politician’s are incapable of disguising the spoils of power.


How quickly he fell.


For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner