Both In The US And In India, They See The Real Obama

Mort Zuckerman writes that after 2 years, Americans got past the window-dressing and now see Obama for what he is:

He came across as a young man in a grown-up's game—impressive but not presidential. A politician but not a leader, managing American policy at home and American power abroad with disturbing amateurishness. Indeed, there was a growing perception of the inability to run the machinery of government and to find the right people to manage it. A man who was once seen as a talented and even charismatic rhetorician is now seen as lacking real experience or even the ability to stop America's decline. "Yes we can," he once said, but now America asks, "Can he?"


The last two years have exposed to the public the risk that came with voting an inexperienced politician into office at a time when there was a crisis in America's economy, as the nation contended with a financial freeze, a painful recession, and two wars.

What took Americans 2 years, apparently took some in India less time--all they had to do was see Obama speak to see the discrepancy between the appearance and the reality of Obama:

Indian politicians are known for making impromptu long speeches and perhaps that is why some parliament officials, who did not wish to be named, sounded rather surprised with the idea of a teleprompter for Obama.

"We thought Obama is a trained orator and skilled in the art of mass address with his continuous eye contact," an official, who did not wish to be identified because of security restrictions, said.

Obama is known to captivate audiences with his one-liners that sound like extempore and his deep gaze. But few in India know that the US president always carries the teleprompter with him wherever he speaks.

So now that Americans have made it clear that they do not like what they see, what is Obama going to do about it? If Obama knows what he is going to do differently, he is not saying:

Obama said he will not change his determination to move America forward by investing in education, infrastructure and clean energy despite mounting pressure in Washington to cut spending. But he said, without elaborating, that the election "requires me to make some midcourse corrections and adjustments."

How those will play out over the next several months, Obama said, will depend on his talks with Republicans. His comments seemed to reflect a deeper acknowledgment of the need for change by the White House, but as he did at a news conference the day after the election, Obama stayed purposely vague on how he would reposition his agenda.

"Corrections and adjustments" are what you do when you are generally going in the right direction--perhaps Obama did not catch on to the implications of the midterm election results? And considering that a poll last month found that 47% of Democrats would like to see Obama face a challenger in the presidential primaries, he actually has less than 2 years to apply 'change' where it is most obviously needed.

Himself.

Hat tip: Jennifer Rubin

Technorati Tag: Obama and 2010 Elections.