Out of Touch

The Democrats have a real problem this Fall. Led by the White House, they are completely out of touch with the country. There are many instances of this but the worst was the "Recovery Summer" pitch. Unemployment has not moved significantly. House and automotive sales are down. Economists are worried about a double-dip recession. For the President and Vice-President to be touring the country talking about a recovery is so out-of-touch as to seem cruel.

This is nothing new. Democrats spent the early months of 2010 pushing the White House to start doing something about the economy. Instead, Obama and Congress seemed fixated on health care reform.

Which brings us to their second problem. They were convinced that, once passed, health care would quickly become popular. Some pundits on the left predicted that this was the path to a permanent Democratic majority - that the public would be so grateful to the Democrats for health care and so worried about Republicans taking it away that Republicans would be reduced to a permanent minority status. The expected rise in popularity has not happened yet. In fact, health care is likely to become less popular over the next few years because the taxes that will support it kick in years before most of the benefits. I'm not sure why the Democrats thought that people would be grateful for measures that they will not see for years but that is part of the whole Democrat disconnect. The message that voters will take home is that the Democrats are more concerned about their agenda than the economy.

Obama suddenly announced a new job program rebuilding the nation's infrastructure. Coming so close to the election, it looks like what it is - a last-minute attempt to woo voters. The stimulus was supposed to rebuild the infrastructure but degenerated into repaving projects in the name of "shovel-ready". Now Obama is proposing a new infrastructure program. Will this be any more successful?

Social Security represents the Democrats' best chance at minimizing their losses but this requires a disconnect from actuarial realities. I'm not sure how many Democrats believe their line about the program being secure until 2034 and how many know better but are using this as a wedge issue. Regardless, this will have to be addressed eventually and the sooner it is done the less painful it will be. An increasing number of people are worried about the status quo so this will eventually backfire as a wedge issue.

President Obama himself is hopelessly out of touch with the American people and always has been. In the 2008 primaries, he had trouble winning rural states. Even in the election, most of his votes came from the cities. He looks down on rural Americans (remember the "clinging to guns, religion, etc." slip). He was raised overseas and in Hawaii and has spent most of his life since then in academia. On divisive issues (Arizona immigration, Ground Zero Mosque, etc.), he usually comes down on the minority side. He talks about "arugula" and drinks imported beer.

Obama also has a tin ear for appearances. As the nation worried about unemployment and the economy, he spent vacations at exclusive New England resorts (not to mention his wife and one daughter going to the Spanish Riviera). George W. Bush figured out pretty fast that it looks bad for a war-time president to be seen playing golf. Obama still has not learned that lesson.

He is easily offended and takes criticism personally. He recently complained that he is treated like a dog. Presidents need a thick skin. They cannot please everyone and much of the opposition is honest and principled. Obama does not grant the other side the right to disagree. To him, they are either lying for political reasons or because big-moneyed interests have bought them. Even the Supreme Court has come in for criticism from the President.

Obama should think back just a few years to how President Bush was treated and the things that Obama himself said. So far his treatment has been mild compared to what both Bushes, Clinton, and Reagan had to put up with.

Instead he lashes out, accusing dissenting Republicans of being stooges of Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck and threatening to remove Fox News's press rights. This further isolates the Obama White House.

All of this could be forgiven if Obama was better at selling his programs. He is not. During the campaign he talked about vague goals of hope and change against backgrounds borrowed from communist and fascist symbols. As president, he does not persuade, he gives boring lectures.

Obama and the Democrats' final problem is that they are out of touch with their base - the Progressive Left. They were the ones who initially supported him over Hillary because of Bill Clinton's moderation. These people were expecting really big changes. When Obama delivered big changes they announced that it was all or nothing and any compromise was equivalent to nothing. They were also disappointed when Obama outsources his economic policy to two insiders. Obama failed to make his case to them and they will probably stay home for the next election cycle or two.

When Obama and the Democrats came into office they must have realized that they had two possible choices. They could dash off a quick stimulus bill and move onto their real agenda, hoping that the economy would improve on its own and they could take credit or they could concentrate on the economy and possibly miss their chance at passing heath care. Obviously they went with the first choice, obsessing on passing it to the exclusion of everything else. The economy is now a last-minute fix-up proposal.

The Republicans could not possibly have damaged the Democrats as much as they damaged themselves. To use Obama's favorite metaphor, the Republicans may have driven the economy into the ditch but at least they kept their eyes on the road. The Democrats have kep ttheir hands off the wheel and their eyes off of the road.