Barack Obama has a new campaign slogan as the midterm elections approach,
"Yes We Did." Really? The Democrats are going to run on their record over the last 2 years? I figured since we are around the 100 day mark out from the midterms, the point at which things start to heat up, we should look back and see what Obama and the congressional Democrats have done over the last 2 years:
- Although Obama promised that if we passed his stimulus that unemployment would remain below 8%, unemployment has remained above 9% for several quarters, it has remained above 15% including an unprecedented high level of discouraged workers (also known as the U-6 index). The chairman of tthe Fed has suggested it will remain above 7% for the rest of Obama's term.
- Obama dithered when McChrystal asked for troops in Afghanistan last year even though the general warned of mission failure. Obama eventually gave McChrystal a fraction of the requested troops after several months of delay and only after his nonresponse was leaked to the media. July was the bloodiest month of the Afghan front and a Rolling Stone reporter recorded the general bashing the President, saying he wasn't taking the war seriously.
- Obama seemed to take the oil spill unseriously, only lifting the Jones Act to let in foreign oil skimmer after two and a half months. Although BP rightfully should have taken point on the clean-up, it is becoming more and more clear that Obama actually stood in the way of the clean-up. From rejecting berms from being built, to demanding the Coast Guard call all boats back to check if they had adequate safety gear, to ridiculous OSHA regulations requiring cleanup workers to take mandatory breaks after 20 minutes of work, it is emerging that the federal government made the spill much worse than it had to be.
- Obama alienated our allies. Obama returned the bust of Churchill to the British shortly after taking office. The bust was on loan after 9/11 and its return was considered a rude act by the Brits who expected the White House to hold onto it for another 4 years. Obama has alienated Turkey, our only real Muslim ally, who is now going through a rapproachment with Iran. Use of Turkey's airspace is crucial for the planned countermeasures necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons, which many people believe could happen in the next year.
- Obama has been quick to deny any systemic Islamofacist threat after every attempted attack on this country during his tenure. Whether it be the Fort Hood shooter, who had business cards stating he was a "Soldier of Allah" or the Christmas Day bomber, whose father told the FBI his son had been radicalized, or the Times Square bomber who was seen in a video meeting with the head of the radical terrorist organization Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
- Despite supposedly being a "post-racial" candidate, Obama has repeatedly engaged in demagoguery to rally his base. Whether it be saying that the cops "acted stupidly" in the Cambridge police case, dismissing voter intimidation charges against the Black Panthers in Philly or jumping the gun on firing Sherrod at the USDA, Obama seems mired in the race hustling politics that you would expect Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson to participate in.
- Obama spent much time both on the campaign trail and in office decrying the Bush administration tactics of rendition, military tribunals and using Guantanamo to house prisoners. However, Obama still uses rendition, backed off of public civilian trials for terrorists after Americans became furious with the handling of Khalid-Sheikh Mohammed, and Gitmo is still running almost a year after Obama's self imposed deadline with no sign of closing during his first term.
When a party's record is grim, they typically go on offense. They might say "I know we had a tough two years but the Republicans will be even worse!" Although the American people say they dislike negative campaigning, studies show it is effective. I expect a lot of negative campaigning in the next 100 days regardless of what the Democrats say (and I don't blame them their tactics) but to start off by putting their record front and center is ridiculous. On the big questions of terrorism, the economy and the oil spill, there is no "Yes We Did!" moment, only examples of incompetence from a one-term senator and life-long community organizer and his congressional followers.
