President Obama's "What Me Worry?" State of the Union address brings into focus the question of leadership. For reference I look to John Kotter's Harvard Business School opus, Leading Change. Steps include: establishing a sense of urgency; creating a guiding coalition; developing a vision and strategy; communicating the change vision; and generating short term wins. Lets look beyond the speeches to Obama's first two years.
Important subjects of potential bipartisan support:
1. TARP. Began as $700 billion fund to buy or guarantee toxic assets (real estate derivatives.) Passed under Bush. Restructured by Hank Paulson. Used creatively to save the auto and banking industries. Geithner/Obama didn't screw it up.
2. Stimulus. Deferred to Nancy Pelosi who made it a $787 billion grab bag of pork and earmarks. Perhaps give a pass to the rookie president.
3. Healthcare. Deferred to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to design and pass. Gave lots of speeches. Corruption of Reid's process to buy votes inflamed the Tea Party. A signature achievement of the administration.
4. Afghanistan. Dithered for a year before deciding to get in and get out ... or not.
5. Middle East. No pressure on Israel / Palestinians to settle the core problem. Let Hillary, Biden, and Gibbs comment on protests engulfing the Middle East. No support for allies; no statement of principles beyond 2009 Cairo speech which was less forceful than Condi Rice's 2005 Cairo speech.
Important subjects to the Liberal base:
1. Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Somehow got passed by the lame duck Senate. Obama AWOL.
2. Cap and Trade. Passed by Pelosi; ignored by Reid. Guerrilla war being engaged by the EPA through regulations.
3. Gun control. Golden opportunity after the Tuscon murders, the way that the Brady Bill was passed after Reagan assassination attempt. Nary a word.
4. Card Check. Abandonment of signature union objective to ease union organization.
5. Closing Gitmo. Let Holder try to move cases to New York. Eventually moved back to Bush's military commissions. Indefinite detention in Cuba for the hard core.
6. Immigration. Let the DREAM Act languish in Congress. Attacked Arizona without proposing actionable alternative.
And now the subject of primary national importance, getting finances in order.
1. Not a peep when Pelosi's House doesnt' even propose a budget.
2. Appoints a Deficit Reduction Commission with a promise that it is not just another Washington effort ot sweep a problem under the rug. Commission makes specific comprehensive recommendations. Obama ignores.
3. Gives a State of the Union address which ignores $1.5 trillion deficit in current budget, $14 trillion debt, real 17% unemployment, and financial meltdowns in other countries. Notes "Sputnik moment"; calls for solar panels and trains. Bashes "earmarks" after approving thousands and Republicans commit that there will be no more.
4. Waiting for Paul Ryan to present Republican budget, healthcare proposals, and propositions for reforming entitlement programs. Assumes that public will respond negatively to "meanspirited" Republican attack on popular government programs. Refocuses staff on 2012 election. Republicans decide to trust the good sense of the American people and carry the financial responsibility mantle.
Scroll back up to the first paragraph to review Prof. Kotter's definition, and see if there is a single subject on which President Obama has exhibited leadership. Instead, the style is to let his wishes be known, then let the various forces driving action go their own ways. My favorite quotation is from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy." How refreshing that would be.
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This week's video is an Egyptian television interpretation of a January 29 interview with Robert Gibbs. One can imagine being a pro-American leader of Yemen, Columbia, Jordan, or Poland and wondering about the implications of America's financial bankruptrcy, the Wikileaks-induced inability to have a confidential discussion with the US ambassador, and the likely support that you would get from President Obama in a crisis. It would be nice if one believed that Obama were having conversations with a legion of our allies.
The NEW OBAMA
As a quick follow up on the Obama-O'Reilly interviews: I thought both handled the extended interviews pretty well. O'Reilly has admitted that he was interested in promoting the "authenticity and humanity" of Fox Cable News more than getting into a debate with Obama over issues and that he had to be careful not to let the President stall out the time. I actually think that is partly true but I don't think Obama was too worried about O'Reilly's questions and had a strategy of making himself into the compromising new guy that he has portrayed himself to be in the last few weeks.
The new Obama is playing catch and pitch versus the old Obama who simply pitched. By that I mean he is now content to let the Republicans come to him with their proposals and calmly accept the ones that don't hurt him much showing his new willingness to compromise and then having the Senate defeat anything he doesn't want. This way he can look bipartisan to the independents and look like the defender of the "Alamo" to his base on the left. Prime examples are: Egypt: support the protestors for the left. Keep Mubarak temporarily in power for the transition for the moderates (and the King of Saudi Arabia). Cost cutting: Letting the Republicans bring forth the proposals and then pick and choose what he wants to allow making them look like the "proponents of change" to the voters. Meanwhile he sends VP Biden (Mr. Amtrack) out with a new $53 Billion high speed train expenditure. Indicating that whatever Republicans can force in cuts he can spend in new initiatives.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | February 10, 2011 at 07:05 AM
Obama-O'Reilly Superbowl
Obama performed very well in the Superbowl portion of the O'Reilly interview last night. In a softball interview in which O'Reilly, clearly nervous on the big stage and pressing to get in a couple key questions in his time restricted interview, Obama used his smoke and mirrors defense with skill and took advantage of the fact that O'Reilly was either too nervous to counter or had made a no counter deal in order to get the interview. Obama's people, whether they had advance knowledge of the questions or had the opportunity to choose half the questions to be publicly aired, did a good job of using up time on softball quetions like: What do you find difficult about being President?, Does it bother you that people hate you? Do you know anything about football or are you just a basketball man? And, of course, O'Reilly's favorite: you know I try to be fair to you-- don't you (which the President ignored)? Thus, Bill was reduced to looking more like Barbara Walters than the Bill O'Reilly who engages Barney Franks in shouting matches. Hopefully, tonights part of the interview confined to "The Factor" will be of more interest. In summary here's what I learned last night:
1. The Packers won the game. Had they not lost their defensive backs we might have turned it off by halftime. The QB with the lowest Superbowl bar bill likely won.
2. Holding and blocking in the back are pretty random calls even at the Superbowl Level.
3. You should practice the Star Spangled Banner if you are going to sing it for the nation. Or use a teleprompter.
4. Mubarak is free to leave or stay but he cannot run for reelection.
5. The Brotherhood is to be included in the new government since Democracy is to be all inclusive.
6. Obamacare is a word to be used to describe the Healthcare Bill when interviewing the President on National TV. And, the President does not believe it will be overturned 5-4 in the Supreme Court so he has no contingency plan to share with us. He believes that eliminating preexisitng conditions and extending coverage to all is good. Bill--with all due respect you knew what his answers would be-- why waste our time?
7. Obama is a football genius--of couse.
8. The President is asked to solve the nations most difficult problems. This I thought was reflective of his thinking: no mention of leading the nation to solve those problems through decision making and executive leadership. The "I" man instead referred to intellectual challenges and the fact the "he" had to solve them. Yesterday his Secretary of State and his Eqypt "Czar" made Polar opposite statements on Mubarak.
9. Those who hate me don't know me. O'Reilly missed this one. Few people hate the President nor care if they know him or not. It is his policies they hate and they do know the policies and their impact on their lives as we saw when they voted in November.
10. A-Rod needs help eating popcorn in public. Looked like a Charleton Heston movie when he the slave was watching the Emporer in the stands.
11. CEO's who advertise during the Superbowl should watch the commercials they are spending $6M/Minute on before they air them.
50% of them were bombs. #1 VW's Darth Kid followed by #2 the Dorito's dog.
In the end yesterday was an entertaining day. I hope The Factor interview is in more depth tonight and focuses on the President's ideas for stimulating job growth, cost cutting (besides throwing it to the Republicans) and his idea of how we will manage the growth of our debt. If not, perhaps this opportunity for Fox would have been better left to Brit Hume, Chris Wallace or Bret Baeir. Sorry, Bill.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | February 07, 2011 at 07:37 AM