The Not Ready for Primetime President?

No one can blame President Obama for not measuring up to the hype that he created during his campaign. It did seem to some observers, like myself, that the campaign was unusually impressionistic. We got a lot of great images and themes, but very little detail. I noticed that this didn't change once Obama moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One official after another had to face the press or Congress and admit that, on whatever issue was up, the Administration wasn't ready to say exactly what it intended to do about it.

The progress of the President's major legislative initiatives suggested the same pattern. The stimulus package threw a gargantuan pile of money to Congress, but included no plan for how the money might be spent so as best to, well, stimulate. Little guidance came from the White House on Cap and Trade, and the same would be true of healthcare legislation.

So now here we are in September. Six months of work on healthcare reform has produced something resembling a frozen hard drive in Washington. So the President is going to address a joint session of Congress to try to reboot the system. Here is what Ezra Klein of the Washington Post reports:

This is health-care reform's endgame, or close to it. Next Wednesday, Barack Obama will give a prime-time address before both houses of Congress. But that's not all he's giving Congress. The administration is going to put a plan down on paper. The question is what it will say.

Conversations with a number of White House officials make it clear that, at this point, even they don't know. The argument was raging as recently as last night, and appears to have hardened into two main camps. Both camps agree that the cost of the bill has to come down. The question is how much, and what can be sacrificed.

Now can it really be true that the President has scheduled an address before Congress and has no idea what he is going to say? You might think that the Administration would have a plan B in reserve, ready to go with a little polishing and adjustment for circumstances. But of course that presumes that they had a plan A, which doesn't seem to be the case.

This is the point that the President should be leaking his healthcare reform plan to members of Congress, who could then leak it to the Press. His speech would be less of a surprise that way, but at least there would be less chance of a very unpleasant surprise. But if anything like that is going on it isn't getting out, which rather defeats the purpose.

Of course it may be that the President has some wonderful surprise in store for us. Maybe he can really explain how he will extend health insurance coverage to all Americans, preserve choices, and all without raising taxes on most of us or putting any additional burden on the budget. Or more likely, he will announce a much reduced legislative agenda (one that may or may not be enacted), declare victory, and go home.

I don't know what will happen, but what I expect is what we have heard from the President before. Here is this from CBS:

Yesterday's CBS News poll provided the White House with stark new evidence that despite it's best efforts, 60 percent of those surveyed say President Obama has failed to clearly explain his plans for health care reform. Asked if they understand his ideas, 67 percent said "no, they're confusing." (Read more from the poll here)

But it's not for lack of trying. Our CBS News tally shows that Mr. Obama has given 27 speeches specifically on his health care objectives. Add in other remarks, events and statements in which he mentioned health care and the number soars to 119.

The President has done nothing to advance the debate. His speeches only reflect the currents that are already well-apparent. Maybe we will get more this week. But just right now, Barack Obama is starting to look like an empty suit.

Comments

[Miranda Flint]

I have been unimpressed with Obama's speeches since he began his presidential campaign. However, I do not think the his failure to explain the healthcare bill is proof that he is an empty suit. I am not sure anyone could explain it clearly. It is long, complex and convoluted. Obama might be able to understand it if he did nothing else for several days, but I suspect that he hasn't read or taken the time to understand it. And if he does not have an understanding of the bill, it might be very difficult for him to know how it might be amended.

[Jim Meidinger]

It's not an empty suit. It's just that the clothes have no emperor.

[Miranda Flint]

I hope that's not like the pale green pants with nobody inside them.

[KB]

As point of clarification, I am not saying that Barack Obama is an empty suit. I am stating that he is starting to look like one. The President is articulate and certainly seems intelligent enough for the job. But his history also suggests a failure to make up his own mind about a lot of things. His association with Jeremiah Wright is one example. His choice of a Truther and avowed communist as his green jobs czar is another. Indeed, his tendency to appoint so many Czars is yet another. Maybe he has never learned to impose his own judgment on the many opinions coming in from those around him. If that is so, then it would explain why he has yet to come up with his own healthcare policy.

[FascistSocialist]

HAHAHAHAHA jesus Flint. You think that Obama is uneducated about the current bill versions and the debate surrounding health care reform?

HA HA HA HAHAHAHA oh boy, this blog is always good for a quick laugh

[KB]

FS: for someone who doesn't hesitate to call someone else a moron, you have a very hard time grasping a point. Neither Ms. Flint nor I accused President Obama of being uneducated. Ms. Flint's point was that the healthcare proposal itself is all but unexplainable. I think she is quite right about that. My point was that Obama has shown almost no competence at turning the natural cacophony of his advisers into coherent policy by making his own decisions. I am quite right about that. I hope that makes things clear enough for you.