Comments on: Why Obama Should Not Sweat the “Little Spills” (and Politically, They Are All Little Spills)

By: Trust You? Why? « DalesIdeas.COM

Trust You? Why? « DalesIdeas.COM — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:04:13 +0000

[...] } Professor Matthew Dickinson of Middlebury College makes the argument that President Obama needs to get himself out of the Gulf oil spill mess by delegating the [...]

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:24:21 +0000

Dale – I think you make some excellent points. Note that I’m not advocating that the federal government step back from its cleanup role. I’m suggesting that Obama step back from appearing to be the point man. As you note, the clash between the state, local and federal governments regarding how best to pursue that cleanup doesn’t suggest the type of “take charge” mentality that Obama wants to project. So where is the political payoff from trying to appear to be running this process? Far better, methinks, to present someone else as the public face of the cleanup rather than show Obama walking the beaches and berating BP.

You may be right that this is indeed an “inflection” point in the Obama presidency. If so, the question becomes whether Obama may have avoided the political fallout had he followed my advice more quickly.

By: Dale Steinacker

Dale Steinacker — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:04:50 +0000

Matthew,
I disagree with your assessment. It may be a result of our different political opinions but I think this could well be the defining incident of Obama’s Presidency.
In the classic sense that “no decision is a decision”, the choices he’s made so far are disastrous. Obama came to power emphasizing his belief that government could solve a vast array of problems. He was seeking to reverse the Reagan statement that “government is the problem.”
Instead, the ABC news clip you linked to shows a huge government bureaucracy that can’t get out of the way to let the Louisiana state barges vacuum up the oil. We are back to the punch line, “I’m from Washington and I’m here to help.”
Obama continues to try to twist everything that happens into an excuse to push his agenda. His disastrous ending about not knowing the road and not knowing the destination made the whole speech a bad joke.
People understand the leak at the bottom of the ocean is BP’s problem. The President has full legal authority to clean up the spill and worry about billing the responsible party later. Instead, the story is now that Obama won’t waive the Jones Act, won’t take help from more than a dozen foreign countries and, by raising anger at BP, may bankrupt the company which desperately needs money to cover the cost of all this.
It is way too late to downplay Obama’s role in this. The leak is BP’s responsibility. The failure to clean it up is Obama’s problem, and the incompetence of the cleanup is a strong reason to block the attempt to give more power and responsibility to the government.

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:47:22 +0000

Scott – Much depends on whether and when this leak gets plugged, but it is certainly possible that at some point Obama’s efforts to appear in charge of the spill may begin to impinge on the public’s overall evaluation of his performance as president, even if it has not done so as yet. It’s partly for this reason that I remain convinced he’s better off distancing himself from this spill.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:35:28 +0000

Well Done! I have been completely puzzled as to why the president seems so bent on identifying himself with a disaster over which he has no authority or control. Appoint a lackey and make him take the fall if someone has to!
Is it possible that his attempts to to appear on top of this as the eco-responsible president may end up corroding his public image, and thus decrease his future power prospects?