Politics is a dirty business and when you decide to run for office you must have thick skin. Your opposition will make up stories, amplify situations, and talk about your family, even if it is the truth or a fabrication. Nothing is off limits, therefore it is important to stay focused, grounded and secure.
President Obama through his election and the past 20 months, he has remained anchored and steadfast. In his hundreds of speeches and remarks, he has always responded to his opposition and critics with kind words. There were a few times that he was visibly angered or frustrated with his opponent, but he always took the high road.
But at a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee, the president strayed from his prepared remarks, which is very unusual for him to do. He took a more aggressive tone and used a metaphor or a figure of speech to get a point across.
“Some powerful interest who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time and they’re not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. That is not in my prepared remarks, but it’s true,” he told the union crowd.
With the Tea Party and Republican Party favored to win back seats in Congress in both houses, many think that it is time for the president to get more aggressive and start swinging with both fists. Some want the president to get in the dirt and the mud and tell the American people what he really thinks about the Tea Party and the Republican Party.
It is obvious at the speech in Milwaukee, President Obama was speaking to a friendly crowd and he got relaxed and in the heat of the moment, he said some things that were out of character. Nevertheless, the Democrats are acknowledging that the bipartisan Obama needs to be shelved at this point during the final run for the midterm elections.
As the leader of the Democratic Party, President Obama has not done a good job marketing his accomplishments for the first 20 months he has been in office. President Obama is losing the support of many independents, and many of the Democrats in his own party. The Republicans and the Tea Party are using a bitterly divided country to their advantage.
As the president’s poll numbers have fallen, the right is well financed by global corporations, the insurance industry, and leaders such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. These companies and their leaders create drama and tell Americans that President Obama was not born in this country and he is bankrupting our country.
In the next fifty days President Obama must begin to set the record straight for his party and our country. Americans are impatient and they expected change to happen overnight, but their expectations are unrealistic and unachievable. Many have forgotten the state of the country when the Obama administration came into power.
The president has been able to get a diluted healthcare bill passed that will soon stop the free fall of the system. The president was able to get a bill to improve insurance for poor children passed, and stop the free fall of the economy and the housing industry. The president has helped restore America’s image and credibility around the world.
The Obama Administration and President Obama must continue to move forward with their agenda and initiatives. There will be times when president Obama makes mistakes and goes off track. When President Obama strayed from his prepared remarks, there was a slip of the tongue, when he said, “They talk about me like a dog.”
Humor and patience will continue to get President Obama through but he is not getting paid for his comedy, even though the statement was funny.
