For Washington, this is definitely not the best of times. The town is suffering from a power outage.
The
evidence is hard to miss, from Washington’s weeklong struggle to cope
with storm damage that knocked out electricity across the region to
President Obama’s inability to awaken the economy, as reflected once
again in June’s pathetic jobs report.
To make matters worse, Washing-ton is out of sync with the
country, at least with the noncoastal parts. The usual response is to
unleash the president so he can rally America to Washington’s purposes.
But the bully pulpit hasn’t been effective since Ronald Reagan was in
the White House. And Obama has failed to revive it.
The president was bailed out when the Supreme Court upheld
his health care program on the flimsiest of constitutional grounds.
That, however, did not bring Obama or Washington into harmony with the
rest of the country. On the contrary, Obamacare remains a source of
bitter conflict.
What’s clear is that Obama is no longer a commanding
presence, much less a force for national unity. This is important
because Washington has always been a White House-centered town. The
media, indeed most Americans, look to the president for leadership. He
acts. Congress reacts.
Obama has acted clumsily. He’s proved to be a poor
negotiator, alienating congressional Republicans rather than finding
even a shred of common ground. He has turned to issuing executive
orders, a sure sign of weakness. Legislation passed by Congress is
difficult to repeal. Executive orders can be erased at a stroke of the
next president’s pen.
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