I put this item on The Huffington Post this morning, and already I got 24 comments–passionate, argumentative comments, pro and con. Amazing.
Maybe I missed it, but where was the Fireside Chat?
Eight days after his swearing-in, Franklin Roosevelt went on the radio for the first of the so-called fireside chats. He had declared a bank holiday, and he told people why. He explained why bank runs were so damaging, how they worsened the crisis. And he told people what steps his administration was going to take.
That little chat helped FDR enormously. It showed people that he had command of the problem, and was taking control of the situation.
Obama thus far has not demonstrated such command and control. He’s been nicked up by the mistakes he made with his appointments. He’s felt obliged to say that he screwed up, which, while refreshing, is not an admission we want to hear from our president with any frequency. And he’s really taken a curious role with this stimulus bill. By allowing the House Democrats to write it, by allowing the Republican opposition to define it, by devoting so much attention on whether or not the bill would have bipartisan support, the president has taken what should be his first signature piece of legislation, and somehow failed to put his stamp on it. And at a time when the country is virtually pleading with him to exert command and control, he has yielded that role to congressional partisans that the public doesn’t quite know and almost certainly doesn’t trust.
Imagine if he had sat down in front of a national television audience and said, in effect, here’s where we are; here’s what we have to do; here’s what the elements of the bill will accomplish; and here is where what we will do next. Doubtless the debate in Congress would have been very different.
Soon the Treasury Department is going to announce its plans for addressing the financial crisis. Already critics are denouncing this as another trip to the bailout well, a follow-up to the TARP plan already tarnished by that plan’s shortcomings. Obama needs to take charge of his plans before they drift into a cloud of uncertainty. He needs to show his command of the problem. He needs to take control of the situation.
I am a card carrying member of the Obabma Choir but I share your trepidation. I was discussing this with my sister who is not “in the choir” but is a golfer. I told her. “Hearing Obama say ‘I screwed up.’ is like he is asking for a mulligan. I don’t like to give any mulligans, let alone be asked for one on the first hole.” This particularly pains me because Daschele graduated one year behind me in high school. My father taught him chemistry. I like Daschele. Here is a photo I took in 2004: http://kennethbsmith.com/bonus/pan/daschele.html
It was interesting that during the campaign, Obama and his people successfully ignored the chattering classes. They said, in so many words, “We don’t care what The Washington Post says, because the voters don’t read The Washington Post.” Perhaps because Obama now lives in the bubble of the White House, he now seems to be paying more attention. He would do well to get back to that view, to ignore the comments of his opponents and the scorecard-keeping of the press, and just keep talking to the American people. I love the Daschle photo.