America's Novice in Chief smells the coffee

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Henry IV, Part 2; Act 3

America's President, one President Barack Obama, is having troubles.  Poll numbers are down, general pessimism is up, and a growing number of Americans are starting to get the sneaky feeling that President Obama doesn't know what he is doing.  This comes hard on the heels of a much publicized round of international failures, followed by increasingly dour appraisals of his ability to control his own party.  In addition, his decision to bring in the Big Dog, the former finagler in chief himself, Bill Clinton, only compounded the notion that President Obama is losing control and losing it fast.  His rather off the cuff excuse for bolting and letting Clinton make love to the media - that he had kept his wife waiting - fell as flat as my savings account numbers. 

In all, this is what you get when you elect a person based on slick campaigning and media agendas.  We knew before he was inaugurated that the race card would be played with gusto in order to force the hands of his opponents. A tactic that embittered many independents.  We knew that if you had coached a season of little league baseball, you had more leadership experience than Barrack Obama had.  But he got in anyway, in no small part because of the continually dismal track record of Senator McCain when it comes to presidential runs. 

But it is what it is.  He's the president, and with each passing day it grows clearer that he is losing control.  He can still regain it, of course.  But leadership must be learned, and at the end of the day, some have it and some don't.  Reagan, Clinton, Roosevelt, Truman - like'em or hate'em, had leadership.  They got things done.  You may disagree with their agendas, but they got their agendas through.  Folks like to compare Obama's numbers with Reagan's numbers of the same time period.  But for all the angst of 1982, nobody doubted that Reagan could lead.  Just getting his budge through a hostile congress proved that. They simply doubted where his leadership was taking us.  1984 showed they decided it took us in the right direction.

Those who can't lead on the other hand - Ford, Carter, GHW Bush - eventually fall by the wayside and are forgotten by history.  For more than anything, the office of the President is really Leader in Chief.  Something I have a feeling President Obama is only now beginning to realize.