THE THIRD HORSEMAN OF THE O-POCALYPSE™:

Wrong Track Distress (BOB HERBERT, 6/28/10, NY Times)

It’s getting harder and harder for most Americans, looking honestly at the state of the nation, to see the glass as half full. And that’s why the public opinion polls contain nothing but bad news for Barack Obama and the Democrats.

The oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the war in Afghanistan and, above all, the continuing epidemic of joblessness have pushed the nation into a funk. All the crowing in the world about the administration’s legislative accomplishments — last year’s stimulus package, this year’s health care reform, etc. — is not enough to lift the gloom.

Mr. Obama and the Democrats have wasted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity handed to them in the 2008 election.

It's hardly fair to blame Mr. Obama, who after all wanted little or nothing to do with the Democrats' historic opportunity, content just to have added a line to his resume.

And most of their problems trace from seizing it. Mr. Obama spent millions demonizing John McCain as someone who would make changes to health care, like taxing some plans. The congressional party somehow then interpreted his victory as a mandate to change health care. How was their "accomplishment" ever going to anything but harm them?

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 29, 2010 4:34 PM