There apparently is no limit to President Obama’s hubris and
arrogance. He has gotten message after message on health care reform,
yet insists on pushing forward with it. Polling data is overwhelming.
Recent elections were likely referendums on his health care plan.
From a political standpoint, there can be no more toxic issue for Democrats. Rasmussen’s latest poll
(2/21) reports: “Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving
Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19. The Approval Index
has been lower only on one day during Barack Obama’s thirteen months in
office (see trends).
The previous low came on December 22 as the Senate was preparing to
approve its version of the proposed health care legislation. The
current lows come as the President is once again focusing attention on
the health care legislation.”
Just as discouraging must be the drop in the President’s Strongly
Approve rating to only 22%, the lowest yet recorded. The population of
messianic followers appears to be dwindling.
Below the surface, Congressional tectonic plates are likely
shifting. The old bulls in Congress have always had inflated
impressions of their value to the world. To them, a President of either
party is merely a means to accomplish their agendas. If the President
is of the opposing party, destroy him. If of your party, ride him.
When Obama was seen as a magical asset, they were willing to go
along and treat him with respect. As the public increasingly views “The
One” as some pampered, arrogant man-child with no experience and
dangerously impractical ideas, his usefulness diminishes.
It is likely that some of his Congressional contemporaries realized
this risk prior to the election. After all, they served with him for
some period of time. Perhaps they believed that his magic could fool
the public forever. If it could, then his election would both advance
the Party and their own personal agendas.
Now it appears Obama’s value is diminished if not completely gone.
His presence actually threatens the “family business” of the
Congressional bulls. Survival trumps loyalty every time, especially in
politics. From a survival standpoint, these old bulls might start
treating the President of their own party like he was George Bush. It
appears he may be that much of a threat to some of their political
actuarial tables.
For
political pundits, the next three years is apt to be like one
continuous Super Bowl. It may turn out to be a political version of
the infinite loop expressed on screen in the movie Groundhog Day.
Monty Pelerin posted this on American Thinker today