Message From the 20101 Midterm Election

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright November 4, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

              Whacked in the side of the head, President Barack Obama got a rude wake up call in the midterm elections, with the GOP picking up 59 seats and seizing control of the House, the Senate adding six Republicans and, adding insult to injury, 10 governors’ houses.  While there’s a tendency to make excuses, including about the plight of incumbents in midterm elections, Barack received a loud message from voters:  Deliver on your promises of improving the economy and, most importantly, end Washington’s bitter partisan divide.  When Obama ran an inspired race against former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), he argued that he was right man for the job to change the tone in the nation’s capital.  Since taking office on a high note with a 70% approval rating, the president has fallen to around 46% due, in no small part, to his failure to get along with the opposition.

            Calling Democrats losses in the polls a “shellacking,” Barack admitted that he deviated from the campaign style that swept him to the Democratic nomination and Oval Office.  With all his gifts, especially for high-flying oratory, Barack should have communicated more regularly with televised speeches and press conferences during the last 20 months.  When he escalated the Afghan war and the economy sputtered, Barack chose a bunker-like mentality over openly selling his agenda.  He allowed high profile members of his White House team, including former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and chief strategist David Axelrod, to do his bidding, a big mistake when you consider neither are acceptable surrogates.  Getting behind the communication curve, Barack allowed the GOP to define his presidency and set up failed expectations that led to Tuesday’s sweeping losses.

            Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, former governor of Virginia, couldn’t man-up that his Party had messed up.  He attributed losses to a country deeply divided, rather than accept the failure to connect with both sides of the aisle.  “No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,” said Barack, admitting that his party, flushed with power from the 2008 election, proceeded to “dictate” to the minority party.  Instead of reaching across the aisle, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Barack’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel proceeded to beat up the minority party for years of domination under former President George W. Bush’s forceful GOP rule.  When Pelosi, Reid and Emanuel got the chance, they showed no mercy with the minority party.  Republicans showed no mercy to Democrats in the months and years following Sept 11.

            Soon-to-be minted House Speaker and current Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was overcome with emotion realizing the 60-year-old from a Roman Catholic family of eleven would ascend to the top of the House.  Boehner promises to be a real challenge for the 49-year-old president, who mush now earn his diplomacy chops.  Boehner, one of Barack’s vocal critics on Capitol Hill, won’t roll over because of the president’s charm.  “If Republicans have some ideas” on health care or any other area Barack signaled his willingness to listen.  Barack bristled at the idea of Boehner’s pledge to begin the process of repealing health care reform.  Obama must counter GOP efforts to rollback health care reform, especially exclusions for preexisting conditions or dropping sick patients while receiving medical treatments.  Barack showed a willingness to compromise, not rollover.

            Resetting his presidency, Barack must get back to basics, connect with voters, initiate town hall meetings and sell his agenda with the same energy and enthusiasm he showed in 2008.  Hiding out in the White House, avoiding nationally televised speeches and hunkering down off the radar screen won’t get it done.  Of all the important messages, Barack must get it that he needs to be far more available to the media and American public.  He can no longer allow his consultants to preempt his political instincts and step between him and the public.  Barack’s challenge now is to beat back the consultants, find his own voice and reach out to a wider bipartisan audience with whom he must connect before the 2012 presidential race.  Shaking off his consultants and finding his own voice should reset the charm and charisma that launched Barack into the Oval Office.

            Tuesday’s slap in the face should help Barack get back on track to assert his special brand of leadership.  Deferring to Pelosi, Reid and Emanuel, detoured Obama from the post-partisan governance promised during the ‘08 campaign.  Despite losing the House, Barack has a golden opportunity to show this diplomacy, working together during the next two years to find common ground with the GOP.  Republicans have enough of their own problems managing a mutiny by the Tea Party within their ranks, containing dangerous riptides within the Party.  “It won’t be easy,” said Barack about the prospects for finding common ground.  Whether or not the prospects for bipartisanship is easy shouldn’t discourage the president from giving it his best.  Whatever happens to the economy, Barack’s challenge between now and 2012 involves proving he’s capable of working with the opposition.

.About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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