If the president is vulnerable, there are three different reasons why.

[phantom power]

My single biggest beef with Obama is that he wasted way too much time tilting the bogus bipartisanship windmill.

Total obstruction was part of the plan from the beginning. More evidence for this comes from Robert Draper's book Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives. Draper describes a meeting on inauguration day where Frank Luntz, Newt Gingrich, and several House and Senate Republicans plotted their strategy to destroy the Obama presidency.

Despite these facts, Mr. Westen puts all the blame for the failure of bipartisanship on the president. He puts all the blame for the size of the Stimulus on the president. And when it comes to health care, Weston just pretends that Democrats like Finance Chairman Max Baucus and turncoats like Blanche Lincoln and Joe Lieberman didn't exist.

If you want to bitch about the president's performance in office, that's your right. But don't try to rewrite history. If the president is vulnerable, there are three different reasons why. First, the Republicans destroyed the economy and then ensured that the president would not have any tools at his disposal to fix it. Second, the Supreme Court legalized billionaire-bribery. Third, the right-wing has a vast media empire whose members serve as more of an auxiliary to the GOP than as corporations or normal news outlets.

Probably the most boring political writing I see is analysis that gives the GOP no credit for being good at what they do.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/7/31/11267/6033

[BeyondGeography]

1. He still isn't hitting them as hard as he needs to

and he continues to make the mistake of talking to Americans like they're adults.

Then again, maybe that's why they like him.

Politics is Obama's calling, and I am prepared to defer to him. One thing he is very, very good at is avoiding big mistakes; he hardly makes any obvious ones, actually. The last week alone should remind us of the value of that.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. I don't know if ...

this:

My single biggest beef with Obama is that he wasted way too much time tilting the bogus bipartisanship windmill.

Is a part of the article, or your editorializing; but I have to disagree. That 'tilting the bogus bipartisan windmill" was necessary to put on full display, the gop obstructionism.

Had President Obama not reached across the aisle time and time again, that gop obstructionism would have been evident to Democrats and people on the left; but it would have gone un-noticed by independents and the few on the right that are honest. Both of these groups have taken noticed, as reflected in polling; and as reflected in independent and republican gop disapproval numbers.

[phantom power]

3. That bit was me editorializing.

I'll agree to disagree.

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. Okay ...

Peace.

[mazzarro]

4. No I beg to disagree here

Obama went along with the bipartisan crap for too long even after it became evident to most people except for the DLC'ers, Third Way's and moderate Democrats when the rePIGs kept shifting the goal post during the healthcare reform negotiation and at same time kept accusing him of all sorts things. It was clear when the leadership of the rePIGs would not even speak out against brazen and clear false accusations against Obama himself. It was clear when the Wall Street honchos did not even express gratitude for Obama not aggressively going after the for tanking the economy. Etc, etc. What was Obama waiting for to convince him that the rePIGs were not going to play ball? That I don't know but I am peeved by it!

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Okay ...

We can agree to disagree; but allow me to explain.

Politics, especially, when setting the table for a bigger fight is all about perception and appearance projection.

Whereas, to Democrats/Liberals/Progressives, President Obama appeared to be a bipartisan-seeking, naive weakling for constantly reaching across the aisle; but Democrats/Liberals/Progressives where not his target audience ... independents and, intellectually honest republicans (all two of them) were his target audience.

In order to make a opposition obstruction argument stick, one must distinguish oneself from one's opposition. How better to do that, then to be seen as coming back to the table, time and time again, after being rebuffed?

And all evidence suggests that his strategy has worked. Look at the tracking polling on the obstruction question, especially that of independents and republics ... two years ago the polling data had Democrats and the gop equally responsible for a "do nothing congress." However, recently polling has a majority of the electorate, and a plurality of independent and republics, saying assigning the label to the gop.

This strategy is particularly critical in this election cycle where the race is perceived to be close, i.e., every independent vote and every disgusted republic that stays home counts.

If you disagree with that assessment, fine; but please don't let organizational (or personal) ego, blind you to effective electoral politics.

[mazzarro]

8. I'll admit that there is a hefty dose of credibiity to what you just posted

However, in addition to the independents and intellectually honest repubs (rePIGs) that you mentioned, a lot of democrats got discouraged by the apparent effeminate response that Obama and the democratic leadership seem to always portray to rePIGlican aggressiveness on any and all issues. After a while one gets tired of turning the other cheek - all for nothing, so it seems.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Agreed ...

It does get tiring.

I think, though, the Democratic leadership got the Good Guy/Bad Guy thing wrong ... the President is the President of the United States; whereas, Congresspersons are representatives of the XYZ district.

It would make sense that the President be the one reaching out and the congress folks being hardcore.

[leftstreet]

7. The GOP was dead. The Democrats revived their sorry asses

Voters annihilated the Republican party in 2006 and 2008

They had no power to 'obstruct' anything