EXCEPT THAT NO ONE WAS EVER SCARED OF HIM:

The incredible shrinking Obama (GLENN THRUSH & CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN, 9/7/11, Politico)

The once-muscular presidency of Barack Obama has undergone a dramatic downsizing - in power, popularity, prestige and ambition - to the point where even Obama die-hards are starting to question his ability to right the economy or win reelection.

Three polls in a single day Tuesday all told the same sorry tale - the avatar of hope and change, the slayer of Osama bin Laden, the president with dreams of a billion-dollar reelection campaign - is losing popular support and bleeding political power fifteen months ahead Election Day.

"He has sort of lost the sense of power and mystique of the presidency," says longtime Obama ally Andy Stern, former president of the powerful Service Employees International Union. "There's also a sense that people aren't scared of him. That's very dangerous."

Even at his theoretical high point Congress and US allies paid no attention to him. His problem is that the perception of him has gone from merely useless to genuinely harmful.

Posted by oj at September 7, 2011 6:41 AM
Tweet   

Follow @brothersjudd