Research Briefing

Even Democrats Are Growing Tired Of Obama’s Complete Lack Of Leadership

Washington Post: “Where's Obama? No Matter How Hard You Look, Sometimes He's Impossible To Find.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

WHEN IT COMES TO THE COUNTRY’S TOUGHEST CHALLENGES, OBAMA IS “MISSING IN ACTION”

The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus: “For A Man Who Won Office Talking About Change We Can Believe In, Barack Obama Can Be A Strangely Passive President.” “For a man who won office talking about change we can believe in, Barack Obama can be a strangely passive president. There are a startling number of occasions in which the president has been missing in action - unwilling, reluctant or late to weigh in on the issue of the moment. He is, too often, more reactive than inspirational, more cautious than forceful.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

• Marcus: “My Biggest Beef Is With The President's Slipperiness On Fiscal Matters.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

Obama’s Presidency Has Been Marked By A Series Of Politically Calculated Dodges On Tough Issues. “He didn't want to get mired in legislative details during the health-care debate for fear of repeating the Clinton administration's prescriptive, take-ours-or-leave-it approach. He doesn't want to go first on proposing entitlement reform because history teaches that this is not the best route to a deal. He didn't want to say anything too tough about Libya for fear of endangering Americans trapped there. He didn't want to weigh in on the labor battle in Wisconsin because, well, it's a swing state.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

• “Yet The Dots Connect To Form An Unsettling Portrait Of A ‘Where's Waldo?’ Presidency: You Frequently Have To Squint To Find The White House Amid The Larger Landscape.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

“[P]resident Obama Has Put His New Spokesman In An Unenviable Position: He Is The Mouthpiece Of An Administration That Has Painfully Little To Say.” (Dana Milbank, “Jay Carney: Mouthpiece For An Inscrutable White House,” The Washington Post, 2/23/11)

• Jay Carney Has “The Uncomfortable Task Of Articulating A Coherent Policy In The Absence Of One.” “The passivity wasn't the fault of the new spokesman. He merely had the uncomfortable task of articulating a coherent policy in the absence of one. The problem was most glaring on the Libyan uprising, which the president has handled with the detachment of a powerless observer.” (Dana Milbank, “Jay Carney: Mouthpiece For An Inscrutable White House,” The Washington Post, 2/23/11)

EVEN DEMOCRATS ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE PRESIDENT’S REFUSAL TO SHOW LEADERSHIP

“Democratic Senators Are Frustrated With The Low-Profile President Barack Obama Has Kept During The Rancorous Spending Debate Dominating Capitol Hill, Urging Him Tuesday To Take An Assertive Role …” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

• “At A Closed-Door Session On The Budget, Nine Democratic Senators Spent Parts Of The 30-Minute Meeting Whacking The White House For Not Being More Engaged, According To People Who Were Present.” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

Democrats Are Displaying An “Open Irritation” With Obama’s Inability To Lead. “The open irritation with the White House comes just as Reid announced support for the Republican-led bill which passed in the House Tuesday and funds the government for another two weeks, while slashing $4 billion.” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): “Well, I think they [White House] should be involved more, and I think they will be…” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

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Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) Demanded To Know If The White House Had A Serious Plan For Spending. “‘If there is a plan, people here deserve to have some sense of what it is,’ Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said at the meeting, according to sources familiar with his remarks.” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

• “At One Point, Conrad Questioned Whether The White House Has A ‘Secret Plan’ Before Another Senator Interjected.” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Barack Obama Must Lead On Budget,” Politico, 3/1/11)

ESPECIALLY AFTER THE PRESIDENT DELIVERED STATUS-QUO BUDGET SHORT THAT’S FULL OF RED INK

The President’s Budget “Would Do Little To Improve The Immediate Budget Outlook.” “Obama's deficit-reduction strategies would do little to improve the immediate budget outlook. Obama projects that the deficit will hit a record $1.6 trillion this year - which, at nearly 11 percent of the economy, would be the largest since World War II.” (Lori Montgomery, "Obama To Offer $3.7 Trillion Budget Blueprint; Deficit To Hit $1.6 Trillion This Year," The Washington Post, 2/14/11)

• "Obama's Budget Makes Clear That He Will Not Take The Lead In That Debate: It Contains No Specific Recommendations For Tax Or Entitlement Reform." (Lori Montgomery, "Obama To Offer $3.7 Trillion Budget Blueprint; Deficit To Hit $1.6 Trillion This Year," The Washington Post, 2/14/11)

When Given The Chance To Show Leadership With His Own Budget, Obama "Chose Instead To Duck" Behind "The Sort Of Budgetary Gimmicks He Once Derided." "Having been given the chance, the cover and the push by the fiscal commission he created to take bold steps to raise revenue and curb entitlement spending, President Obama, in his fiscal 2012 budget proposal, chose instead to duck. To duck, and to mask some of the ducking with the sort of budgetary gimmicks he once derided."  (Editorial, "President Obama's Budget Kicks The Hard Choices Further Down The Road," The Washington Post, 2/15/11)

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank: "In His New Budget, Obama Kicks The Can One More Time" (Dana Milbank, Op-Ed, "In His New Budget, Obama Kicks The Can One More Time," The Washington Post, 2/15/11)

The President Budget Reflects “Mr. Obama’s Characteristic Caution” And The White House’s Deference To Political Calculations Over Policy Solutions. "With the budget he is to unveil Monday, President Obama has not opted for the bold, comprehensive approach to reining in the fast-growing federal debt that his own fiscal commission has said is needed, now. That decision partly reflects Mr. Obama's characteristic caution, but also a White House calculation: that 'now' is too soon for the nation's political system."  (Jackie Calmes, "A Cautious Approach Seeking Bipartisan Appeal," The New York Times, 2/13/11)