NOT THAT ANYONE WOULD ARGUE HIS STAFF IS COMPETENT...:

Obama vows to continue fight for change (Edward Luce, January 22 2010, Financial Times)

Barack Obama on Friay came out with a defiant speech at the end of a nightmare week in which he promised to continue fighting for healthcare reform and Wall Street regulation in spite of having lost his Senate supermajority.

Drawing energy from the “town hall” format that served him so well in the election, Mr Obama conceded to an audience of voters in Elyria, Ohio, that he had “run into a bit of a buzz saw” this week with the setback in Massachusetts.

...but do they really think the problem is he hasn't talked enough? How about just going away for awhile and leaving us alone?

MORE:
Brown's truckin', Obama shifts into reverse (MARK STEYN, 2010-01-22, OC Register)

So what went wrong? According to Barack Obama, the problem is that he overestimated you dumb rubes' ability to appreciate what he's been doing for you. "That I do think is a mistake of mine," the president told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I think the assumption was if I just focus on policy, if I just focus on this provision or that law or if we're making a good rational decision here, then people will get it."

But you schlubs aren't that smart. You didn't get it. And Barack Obama is determined to see that you do. So the president has decided that he needs to start "speaking directly to the American people."

Wait, wait! Come back! Don't all stampede for the hills! He gave only (according to CBS News' Mark Knoller) 158 interviews and 411 speeches in his first year. That's more than any previous president – and maybe more than all of them put together. But there may still be some show out there that didn't get its exclusive Obama interview – I believe the top-rated "Grain & Livestock Prices Report – 4 a.m. Update with Herb Torpormeister" on WZZZ-AM Dead Buzzard Gulch Junction's Newstalk Leader is still waiting to hear back from the White House.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 22, 2010 4:24 PM