In the political world the saying goes, "Elect on promises, deselect on deliverables!"
President Obama and his democratic party was hit badly at the mid term election. I believe though that
this is not a public expression of confidence in the republican party, bearing in mind that the President's
approval rate is higher than the approval rates of the Republican party and that of Congress.
No, it is something else. For me it is actually poor communication and a tactical political mistake to be too
centric. This combination is lethal when in dialogue with the voters.
Obama is a great orator and perhaps one of the best ever. Maybe not as good as Bill Clinton, but far better
than George W. Bush. If Obama's day-to-day work is to solve all political issues the way all Americans want them solved during his presidency and not follow the vision of change he so clearly communicated and received clear mandate to execute, it will result in disappointments and lack of trust of his messages contra his deliverables.
Regardless what the President says in his communication channels he used in his campaign and
during his presidency, he will be misunderstood. The picture he draws, the image he wants to pursue, will
not be perceived well and understood among the voters. There is a mismatch between what he is saying and his actions.
And you know even a child does what you do, not necessarily do what you say!
Quantity is not the answer, rather it is the quality of what he is saying is what matters. So that means less TV interviews and publicity stunts and more work and focus on the political agenda, would be been my first and vital advice to the President if I would be his “Swedish” advisor. And if I would emphasize my advice to Obama with a saying, it would have to be one that would support his democratic vision, and not a tactical, centric political approach. That would probably only lead to small pieces delivered to everybody, but no real deal, not a broad breakthrough, or a huge political impact and deliverables for the voters. As a result we will have a political meltdown of trust and faith in the President.
The perception of the President and his ability to change varies across the country. from the people of New Hampshire who believe he is a Swedish socialist and Middle Eastern Muslim to the people of Boston, for instance, who believe he just continues the work of Bush and his administration. Despite the fact that Obama has delivered several major bills and stimulus packages to counter the financial crisis, and despite the fact
that he inherited two wars and a gigantic budget deficit, the issue at stake is that the democratic voters
believe he did less than what they expected, and actually the Republicans believed he did too much, more than they wanted! Democrats want more of him. Republicans want less! And if you go for a centric approach it will just be a mess!
This blurry picture and perception of an unclear political approach resulted in a political paradox
called an asymmetric polarization. Many conservative southern democrats were replaced by even more
conservative southern republicans in Congress. This will increase the polarization of the Congress, even more compared to the last one, which was the most polarized Congress in the American history. This is not good for the President, or for the American people, bearing in mind the financial difficulties and the economical struggle they fight against at present.
The only alternative to dismantle the stalemate is for the politicians to really take their responsibility
seriously and govern the country jointly and together, and focus on needs of the country and people rather what is good for the party and the individual politicians.
America, I think of you every day!
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