BloggeRhythms

Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, headed her column, “The Loneliest President Since Nixon.” The subtitle read: “Facing adversity, Obama has no idea how to respond.”

 

The column began with her quoting a Democrat operative who’d told her that,“People do what they know how to do.” Politicians don’t have a vast repertoire. When they get in a jam they just do what they’ve always done, even if it’s not working anymore.”

 

Ms Noonan followed that observation by writing that, “This came to mind when contemplating President Obama. After a devastating election, he is presenting himself as if he won. The people were not saying no to his policies, he explained, they would in fact like it if Republicans do what he tells them.

 

You don’t begin a new relationship with a threat, but that is what he gave Congress: Get me an immigration bill I like or I’ll change U.S. immigration law on my own.”

 

Farther along, after describing many examples of how the incumbent president has alienated virtually everyone around him, regardless of party or affiliation, she noted that, “The last time we saw a president so alone it was Richard Nixon, at the end of his presidency, when the Democrats had turned on him, the press hated him, and the Republicans were fleeing. It was Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP’s standard-bearer in 1964, and House Minority Leader John Rhodes, also of Arizona, who went to the White House to tell Nixon his support in Congress had collapsed, they would vote to impeach. Years later Goldwater called Nixon “The world’s biggest liar.” 

 

But Nixon had one advantage Obama does not: the high regard of the world’s leaders, who found his downfall tragic (such ruin over such a trifling matter) and befuddling (he didn’t keep political prisoners chained up in dungeons, as they did. Why such a fuss?).”

 

Ms Noonan’s column struck home with me completely, whereas I’ve had doubts of the incumbent’s capabilities since he first campaigned for the presidency without an iota of qualifying credentials. Having accomplished far less than a significant segment of the population, possessing absolutely no practical experience whatsoever, his track record in office proves the point undoubtedly.

 

In that regard, a reader once again offered a succinct summation, as follows:   

 

Allen Huggins, wrote, “When he was elected, his critics claimed he was an "empty suit" as he had really accomplished nothing other than getting elected with boastful rhetoric.  Now we realize that it is far, far worse.  He's not an empty suit. He's an arrogant college professor who thinks he has all the answers and looks down at the rest of us fools.  He won't listen to reason, as all he hears is himself.  Very naïve.”

 

In today’s Clinton update, Lee Rood wrote a column in nypost.com, headed “Is Iowa already sick of Hillary Clinton?,” which begins as follows:

 

“If you’re a die-hard Democrat in New York hoping to overcome the disappointment that was Nov. 4, you’re worried.

 

But here in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation caucuses are a mere 14 months away, some are breaking into a cold sweat.

 

Most party leaders here will assure you all conversations about the 2016 presidential nomination still begin and end with Hillary Clinton.

 

The former first lady and secretary of state is a sentimental favorite. Though she has not formally announced her candidacy, her well-oiled super PAC may be the most deeply rooted ever at this stage in the Hawkeye state.

 

But that may be the problem. Familiarity breeds if not contempt, then frustration.”

 

Ms Rood then mentions Jerry Crawford, “who co-chaired Clinton’s 2008 campaign in Iowa and helps lead Ready for Hillary in the state.”

 

And it’s Mr. Crawford's thoughts that stimulate Ms Rood’s ideas regarding Bill Clinton’s wife’s problems in the state, whereas “Crawford, who has led presidential campaigns in Iowa for almost three decades, acknowledges Clinton could easily stumble out of the gate if sometimes contrarian Iowans believe they are being force-fed an unlikeable candidate.”

 

This is noteworthy today because, while the election’s still two years away, and Bill's wife hasn’t even announced presidential candidacy yet, anti-establishment bias among the voting public may play a significant role in 2016, negatively affecting her especially.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios