HURT: Brutal week for Obama, the worst of his presidency: "The past seven brutal days will go down as one of the worst weeks in history for a sitting president. It certainly has been, without any doubt, the worst week yet for President Obama. Somehow, Mr. Obama managed to embarrass himself abroad, humiliate himself here at home, see his credentials for being elected so severely undermined that it raises startling questions about whether he should have been elected in the first place — let alone be re-elected later this year. . . ."
A few weeks ago, Obama looked increasingly likely to win re-election. Now his "landmark" legislation--"Obamacare"--appears to be only weeks away from a devastating ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. If the Court does anything along the lines of the consensus expectation, it will be a defeat not only for Obama and his claims to be a competent leader, but to the Democrat Party as a whole.
Things are bad in the Mideast--Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran--and not likely to improve but instead likely to get a lot worse before the November election. Americans may not keep up with foreign affairs, but they do notice increases in gasoline prices.
The economy, although improving in some sectors, is still very weak--U.S. Unemployment Up in February: "Underemployment is 19.1%, up from 18.7% in January--by Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist--PRINCETON, NJ -- U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.1% in February from 8.6% in January and 8.5% in December. . . . "
The President not only appears weak abroad and domestically, but apparently has lost standing in his own party and is totally unable to "get things done"--The Daily Caller: "By a stunning 0-414 tally Wednesday night, the House of Representatives voted down a budget proposal based on President Barack Obama’s 2013 recommendations. Congress hadn’t seen a budget vote that lopsided since last May, when the Senate voted down an Obama budget plan by a 0-97 margin."
In 2008, after the disastrous administration of George W. Bush, the country needed a change. Unfortunately, instead of bold leadership, we have had to accept the diminishment of "hope and change" into something less than that "hoped for." This shows in the lagging fundraising and apathetic support among young people for Obama's re-election.
Can President Obama recover? Perhaps, but as they say on Wall Street, the "trend line" is not looking good.
