If elected Barack Obama will be a very weak and indecisive president. How did I arrive at this conclusion? By watching the current power play over the past week in which Obama abdicated his leadership role to the Democrat leaders of Congress. It is not often that the public can see such a ruthless play for power but that is exactly what is happening over the financial bailout.
First, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, said they had come up with a plan. Only after getting maximum press coverage, where they looked like the heroes of the hour, was it revealed that they had not vetted it with anyone else. Then when anyone (such as the House Republicans or a good part of the nation) disagreed with their idea the dissenters were portrayed as deal breakers when in fact there never had been a deal satisfactory to enough people to pass a vote.
When McCain said he and Obama should be there to work on a bailout rather than getting ready for a debate, these Democrat leaders said that this issue was not a place for “presidential politics”. Excuse me? Since one of these men will be responsible for this country in just a few months and tasked with implementing the solution then they should definitely have a role in this. As for “politics” few people are more political than Pelosi and Reid. Their entire role seems to be less in finding a workable solution and more in claiming they were the ones who had a solution and blaming McCain for derailing their “deal”. However, even setting aside “presidential politics” Obama and McCain are Senators who should be there in that role.
This week Obama showed his inexperience and weakness by abdicating his leadership to Pelosi and Reid. Instead of asserting his role as the next potential president he bowed to their wishes and initially stayed away from Washington. Perhaps this is also a reflection of Obama’s history of avoiding making decisions by either not being there or by avoiding either a nay or aye vote. Whatever his reasons, by staying away he turned over his leadership role to Pelosi and Reid. Only a call from Bush finally got Obama back to Washington.
As I write this on Friday morning, Reid has just had another press conference. Again he said that “outsiders should stay out of it” which is a swipe at McCain and yes, even Obama. He also insinuated that a deal would have been reached if McCain had stayed away. You could see that Reid was clearly angry that his deal was shot down by the House Republicans. How dare anyone go against him! Reid even admitted that he is getting angry calls from his constituents but that Congress knows best and even though people are unhappy with it, the deal is good for Wall Street and Main Street. What hubris!
First, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, said they had come up with a plan. Only after getting maximum press coverage, where they looked like the heroes of the hour, was it revealed that they had not vetted it with anyone else. Then when anyone (such as the House Republicans or a good part of the nation) disagreed with their idea the dissenters were portrayed as deal breakers when in fact there never had been a deal satisfactory to enough people to pass a vote.When McCain said he and Obama should be there to work on a bailout rather than getting ready for a debate, these Democrat leaders said that this issue was not a place for “presidential politics”. Excuse me? Since one of these men will be responsible for this country in just a few months and tasked with implementing the solution then they should definitely have a role in this. As for “politics” few people are more political than Pelosi and Reid. Their entire role seems to be less in finding a workable solution and more in claiming they were the ones who had a solution and blaming McCain for derailing their “deal”. However, even setting aside “presidential politics” Obama and McCain are Senators who should be there in that role.
This week Obama showed his inexperience and weakness by abdicating his leadership to Pelosi and Reid. Instead of asserting his role as the next potential president he bowed to their wishes and initially stayed away from Washington. Perhaps this is also a reflection of Obama’s history of avoiding making decisions by either not being there or by avoiding either a nay or aye vote. Whatever his reasons, by staying away he turned over his leadership role to Pelosi and Reid. Only a call from Bush finally got Obama back to Washington.
As I write this on Friday morning, Reid has just had another press conference. Again he said that “outsiders should stay out of it” which is a swipe at McCain and yes, even Obama. He also insinuated that a deal would have been reached if McCain had stayed away. You could see that Reid was clearly angry that his deal was shot down by the House Republicans. How dare anyone go against him! Reid even admitted that he is getting angry calls from his constituents but that Congress knows best and even though people are unhappy with it, the deal is good for Wall Street and Main Street. What hubris!
I don’t know how this whole financial mess will ultimately be resolved. What I do know is that Pelosi and Reid are already trying to flex their political muscles. This past week Obama has already set precedence by not only letting Pelosi and Reid tell him what to do but even worse by then doing their bidding. Instead of acting “presidential” he showed he was weak and could easily be controlled by Pelosi and Reid. This bodes a difficult presidency for Obama and an even worse four years for the rest of the country. For if Obama wins then Pelosi and Reid just might end up as the real leaders
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