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Obama's slip is showing: The public likes his big plans much less than it likes him...

By: Michael Goodwin
Sunday, June 21, 2009

One of President Obama's favorite words is "unsustainable." It also happens to be the perfect description of his standing with the American people.

Polls consistently find he is personally more popular than his major policies. That situation is unsustainable - something has to give. The first law of politics says the two must eventually get in sync.
Bet that Obama's popularity will give. In part that's because, even if he wanted to, he can't undo the big policies the public doesn't like, especially his adding to the deficit and his aggressive push to get government more involved in private industry.

Another reason is that Obama doesn't want to change course and ridicules those who think he should. At a Democratic fund-raiser Thursday, the President reportedly mimicked a robot as he called criticism of his policies "predictable."

His partisan audience yukked it up, but the last laugh may be on Dems who follow their audacious leader too closely. Dem gains in the last two elections came primarily from conservative-leaning districts and some members already are worried about re-election. If the tide turns against Obama, they could be in trouble.

Yet Obama, like George Bush, seems to be digging a foxhole and insisting he is right and the public is wrong. We know how that worked out for Bush and the GOP.

While it's too early to say Obama's honeymoon is over, the public is waking up to the danger of uncontrolled government power and spending. Three separate polls last week had similar findings, and they weren't pretty for the White House.

Two found decline in Obama's job approval rating. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll pegged it at 56%, down five points. Most important, independents dropped dramatically, from nearly a two-to-one approval to closely divided.

Nearly 70% of those polled are worried about Washington's intervention in the economy and 58% said Obama and Congress should focus more on the deficit. Most disapproved of Obama's decision to close the terrorists' prison at Guantanamo.

Similarly, the Pew Research Center found Obama's approval on the economy has declined from 60% in April to 52% now.

A third poll, by the New York Times and CBS, found 60% of Americans believe Obama doesn't have a plan to deal with the deficit. Less than half approve of how he is dealing with health care and automakers.

In the short term, Obama is prevailing with nonstop campaigning. From daily TV speeches to political-style town halls, he is using his best weapons - his charisma and the power of the office. It's have TelePrompTer, will travel.

But facts, such as rising unemployment, are stubborn things and Obama's long-term problem is that he is giving only lip service to public doubts. He says he wants government to have a "light touch," yet every move is heavy-handed.

He says the deficit keeps him awake at night, yet he spends his daytime hours adding to it, most recently with a health bill that would cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years.
Obama dares call this reform and says it will save money. Wisely, the public doesn't believe him. And just wait till voters get the bill for his carbon tax.

Even Congress is getting rebellious. The health bill is proving too expensive for some liberals who clamored for it and Obama's overhaul of financial services was met mostly with skepticism.

The most dramatic rebuke came when both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to condemn Tehran's crackdown on courageous demonstrators protesting the election. The bold, bipartisan statement stands in contrast to Obama's comments, which grew more forceful yesterday but still fall short of what is needed from the leader of the free world.

He is guilty of looking weak and indecisive while a democracy revolution unfolds in a dangerous Muslim nation.

That's not where an American President should be at this historic moment.

Source - http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/goodwin/index.html#ixzz0JAjzp2Mo&D