The End of the Honeymoon

Nothing lasts forever, and it appears that the period of America's infatuation with Barack Obama has come to an end. But just as the honeymoon period doesn't signify the end of a marriage, but rather the transition into the real thing, so too is our president transitioning into a period of rule over rhetoric. It is time to start to lead the country in the direction that he, and those of us who support him want to see. It is time to roll up the sleeves and get after it, and as health care reform is the issue on the table, that's as good a place to start as any.

Opinion polls, which show decreasing support for the president in general, and on health care specifically, are about as meaningful at this point in his presidency as baseball standings in early May. The outcry coming from town hall meetings, some of it manufactured and some of it legitimate, but most of it lacking in political intelligence, should not be an excuse to derail meaningful reform. This is a golden opportunity for the new administration to show the discipline needed to effectively rule, and while this is a vital issue in its own right, it is also very much a barometer for how effective this team will be on a variety of other important issues.

For the second time in six months, Obama has made the mistake of turning over a vital piece of legislation to the Congress, the first time was with the stimulus plan in the waxing days of his term. I had hoped that he would have learned from that experience, but right now I'm not so sure if this is the sign of an inexperienced politician without strong advisers, or if this is indicative of a hands-off approach that is at the core of his leadership style. Both are troubling signs, the former suggests a failure to learn as quickly as the times require, but the latter is even more troubling.

The American people didn't elect a Democratic Congress in a vacuum, they were merely swept into power in the draft of a master campaigner who was able to capitalize on an electorate disgusted with the inept rule of the prior administration. The tanking economy certainly did its share as well. What is clear to most voters, but apparently not to the members who benefited from their collective decision, was that support for the Democratic Congress will be short-lived if they do not produce. The sooner they realize that the better off we all will be, and it is the job of Mr. Obama to make them see the light.

Obama needs to be clear about what it is he wants to see in this legislation, and then he needs to get tough with his own party about getting the job done. Forget about the opposition, they are simply playing the game the way it has always been played and to expect any differently is naive. The public doesn't need to necessarily be on board at this point either, our system is a republican democracy, which quite simply means that our say is mostly limited to voting every few years for people to represent our interests. We don't need to be polled weekly, the only polls that matter are the ones we go to in order to cast our votes. And the last time we did, the majority of us voted for Obama and the reforms he promised. It is time to deliver, and it is results upon which he will be judged when it really counts.