Obama To Go on the Attack as Polls Decline and Partisanship Blamed!

Doubling down on a losing strategy means ego and ideology trumps true bipartisanship!

Sen. Evan Byah (D-IN) makes his surprise announcement to retire and follows it up with an interview on Good Morning America where he says:

"There's just too much brain-dead partisanship, tactical maneuvering for short-term political advantage rather than focusing on the greater good, and also just strident ideology."

Even Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank (D) said that partisanship is out of control. The statement seems odd coming from a man who consistently voted to block Republican proposals in Congress.

And then, there's Obama's role in matter. Who can forget that he dismissed GOP ideas for the economic stimulus plan last year by telling a GOP Congressman "I won."

Who can forget a year in which the Democrat majority, spurred on by Obama, attempted to ram through a socialist health care scheme and cap and tax global warming legislation? Legislative efforts in which nearly all GOP alternatives were rejected.

CNN Poll: Majority Would Vote Against Obama in 2012

Little more than one short year after the hope and change parade hit Washington, the dreams of a liberal political realignment led by Obama are in tatters. Elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts reveal that the Obama magic is gone and he and his fellow Dems may soon follow.
The latest CNN poll shows 52% would not vote to re-elect Obama in 2012. Only 44% said they would. That's a dramatic turnaround from his big win of 53% over 46% for McCain in 2008. The numbers for congressional Democrats are even worse.

And for anyone who thinks Republicans incumbents will suffer equally as Democrats in 2010, there's more bad news. Polls show that support for Republicans increases the more they confront Obama directly. One GOP study found dramatic shifts after House Republicans confronted Obama at the GOP retreat in Baltimore at the end of January.

And now Obama wants to double down with a more aggressive partisan attack strategy by inviting GOP leaders to the Blair House to discuss health care. (Does anyone even care about jobs any more?)

White House revamps communications strategy
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post
Monday, February 15, 2010

White House officials are retooling the administration's communications strategy to produce faster responses to political adversaries, a more disciplined focus on President Obama's call for "change" in Washington and an increasingly selective use of the president's time.

The messaging adjustments are the result of an end-of-the-year analysis in which White House advisers said the president's communications team had not taken the initiative often enough and had allowed drawn-out debates in Congress, and relentless criticism by Republicans, to drown out his message.

"It was clear that too often we didn't have the ball -- Congress had the ball in terms of driving the message," communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. "In 2010, the president will constantly be doing high-profile things to be the person driving the narrative."

Senior White House aides described the changes as an aggressive response, aimed at producing fresh momentum for the president's faltering agenda and regaining the advantage ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November.

Vice President Biden's appearances on two Sunday morning talk shows were part of the new response -- in this case, to rebut former vice president Richard B. Cheney's accusations that the administration is weak on terrorism. Biden, who taped one of the shows in advance, said his predecessor was attempting to "rewrite history."

Obama's surprise news conference last week -- his first in nearly seven months -- is another example. After a bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders, Obama faced the media to declare his willingness to work with Republicans. But he warned: "I also won't hesitate to condemn what I consider to be obstinacy that's rooted not in substantive disagreements but in political expedience."

There you have it. The man who has already set a record for presidential speeches and appearances will have even more. And after more calls for bipartisanship, it's clear he intends to attack the GOP and attempt to blame them for his inability to convince members of his own party to agree to his demands.

It's clear that Obama learned nothing from the Scott Brown electoral earthquake. Ideology and partisanship cloud his judgement and continue to impair his ability to lead.

Good!