Look, I don't like to make fun of the man; I try go lightly on him in these pages when I can; but even the headline here seems positively Onion-esque:
Obama Rolls Out Midterm Metaphor
"You had a group of folks who drove the economy, drove the country, drove our car into the ditch," Mr. Obama told some 200 party faithful sipping sauvignon blanc by the pool Monday night at a Los Angeles fund-raiser.
The president may change a word here or refer to a different member of Congress there, but the basic arc of the anecdote has been the same at his stops so far this week on a three-day, five-state swing.
The White House wants to frame the November elections as a clear choice between the Democrats who have put the country on the road to recovery, anemic though it may be, and the Republicans who, in the White House view, got the country into the economic mess to begin with.
"We put on our boots and walked into the ditch — it's muddy and hot and dusty and bugs everywhere — and we're pushing," Mr. Obama said of the efforts of the White House and its Democratic partners in Congress.
"And we're slipping and sliding and sweating, and the other side, the Republicans, they're standing there with their Slurpees watching us," Mr. Obama said, building up to the punch line, which he has been refining (minus the Slurpees) for several months. "Finally we get this car to level ground. Finally we're ready to move forward, go down that road once again to American prosperity, and what happens? They want the keys back."
This was several days ago. Obama is now on, what, his tenth? fourteenth vacation this year? Shall we count his wife's vacations, social events, and parties as well? You're telling a wealthy audience sipping sauvignon blanc that you're all in a ditch, sweating, in the mud, while your opponents are standing at the sidelines sipping a drink?
"The car" is the economy, and the economy isn't propelled by politicians. Aside from the quite obvious fact that Obama hasn't gotten anything muddy, dirty, or sweaty, it is business and women — with all-sized businesses — who are working to get the economy going. And what is their chief impediment? Idiotic policies which make their life heck, and make them afraid to invest even another dollar in expanding business.
And how did "the car" end up in the "the ditch"? If I recall, a number of politicians — mostly Democrats — decided we all needed something called "affordable housing." In their zeal, they pressured banks to loosen their lending standards, and then, through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, worked to bundle those questionable mortgages into securities, which were then resold — setting the stage for the dramatic collapse.
"Well, you can't have the keys back," he said to cheers in Milwaukee on Monday. "You don't know how to drive. You got us into the ditch."
It is not an easy sales pitch, in no small part because Republicans have countered that Mr. Obama's stimulus spending and health care and financial overhauls are slowing the recovery and keeping the unemployment rate high.
Obama knows how to drive? He's not even sure where the car is! He can't, apparently, even distinguish "road" from "ditch." For the past two years, just as now, Obama has been telling us he's finally got the "car" on the "road" — and, of course, each time, it's been obvious that the car has, in fact, is still sitting squarely in the "ditch" — or worse, actually, further mired in mud than when he arrived. And yet we're to believe he's a great "driver"?
The second problem is that it isn't the Republicans who are primarily his opposition. It is more than a bit disturbing that he thinks his party controls "the keys" and can decide who should receive them next. Give him, and those who cheer for such idiocy, an "F" on Civics 101.
"They keys" are — and always have been — held by these people called "voters." These voters asked Obama to drive. Many of these voters are now noticing Obama has no idea what he's doing — that he's never even managed (to extend the President's slurpee analogy) something as complex as a QuikieMart. These voters are the ones who are now looking to designate someone else — anyone, really (the first hundred names in the Boston phone directory are sounding increasingly attractive) — to take over from here. They're not in love with Republicans, but they really can't stand (or more precisely, afford) the Democrats any more.
Condescension + Incompetence = Winning Formula for Democrats?
Perhaps. The American people are pretty easy to fool, it would seem — at least as long as the media does its job. And key Republicans seem to be doing everything they can (Michael Steel, I'm looking at you) as well, to give Obama a helping hand. We'll see.