It’s been a tough cycle for President Barack Obama. His healthcare initiative is stalled, thanks in part to the White House’s muddled leadership.<\/p>\n
His supporters want to rally around The Obama Plan, but the truth is there isn’t an Obama Plan to support.<\/p>\n
There’s a Pelosi Plan, a still-unwritten Reid Plan, and a constellation of vague policy arguments that add up to a big muddle.<\/p>\n
In his press conference this week, Mr. Obama was cool and thoughtful, rather than inspiring. Within 24 hours, Senator Harry Reid had pulled the issue off the agenda until September.<\/p>\n
Ouch.<\/p>\n
In a rare instance of message-confusion, the President used the same press conference to speak publicly about the “stupid” arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates.<\/p>\n
Mr. Obama admitted repeatedly that he didn’t know the facts and then dove smack into the middle of a racial controversy that had been fading.<\/p>\n
It may be that the police were stupid in arresting Prof. Gates. It may be that they acted properly and were beyond reproach. <\/p>\n
What’s certain is that the President had no idea what he was talking about. Never a good thing for the CiC.<\/p>\n
My prediction is that Mr. Obama will still get some kind of healthcare reform in the Fall. Democratic moderates don’t want a crippled leader.<\/p>\n
But this week’s fumbles suggest that the White House has a long way to go building the kind of disciplined political juggernaut that George W. Bush wielded during his first term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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