Senator Obama “phones it in” once again.
For months now Senator Obama has beaten the drum about the failing economy and he has made the economy one of the pillars of his campaign; however his actions this past week show that what is important to Senator Obama is not the problems we currently face with the economy, but with his campaign and his bid for the highest office in our land. In short it was more important that he continue to pander to every audience he could and to raise money for his campaign than show up in DC and work to resolve this crisis. Oh yes, he did go for one day, but only because President Bush requested him to attend, and reports of his behavior, comments and actions during these meetings belay his much carefully crafted image of the skilled, seasoned and reasoned legislator that his team, the media and he has so carefully crafted.
As a management expert I would have to argue with Senator Obama’s flawed logic that staying in telephone contact with such individuals as Representative Pelosi, Senator Franks, et al does equate being in the “thick of things” as a crisis of this magnitude calls for from its leaders. In fact I would argue that this crisis is such that every Senator and Congressperson should have been in attendance during all the various negotiations and meetings, and that abdicating this responsibility to another elected official or one’s staff (even a staff that has in essence been the defacto Senator for nearly two years) is not the actions of a seasoned or experienced leader, it is however a good example of a “paper tiger”. Or as is so often the practice of Senator Obama voting present on a hot button or controversial issue rather than taking a stand.
Democrats and others have been sounding the clarion call of the failure of our economy and using this fear to rally many to their side and to attempt to portray themselves as the only party that will be able to deliver our nation from its economic woes. Unfortunately when we needed all hands to be on deck, so to speak, to handle this crisis (you know the one that only the keen Democratic mind can save us from) the two top Democrats (Senators Obama and Biden) decide it was more important to make campaign speeches and to hold campaign events. Senator Obama defends his actions by stating that he can (and Presidents should be) able to multi-task. The problem is that what has taken place this week is not about multi-tasking, but all about making sure the constituents that elected you to represent them have a voice; but then again I’m sure his constituents and their interests are accustomed to being pawned off to others since that’s exactly what’s Senator Obama’s been doing from almost the first day he was elected to Congress. Then there’s Senator Biden who is so concerned about this financial crisis that he makes sure to insert millions of dollars of earmarks into these fragile negotiations. You should also take a look at how your Senators and Congressman or Congresswoman voted on the Financial Deregulation Act of 1999. Senators Feinstein and Boxer voted yes and no respectfully and Congressman Schiff voted yes. Oh, and just for fun, Congresswoman Pelosi, who is constantly harping about the so-called failed Bush Administration economic plan, voted YES. So it looks like some members of Congress were all for deregulation before they were in favor of regulation.
Before you dismiss my observations and criticism of Senator Obama’s action during this time of financial crisis, let me remind you that early on in the Bush Administration many of the same pundits and elected officials that think it’s perfectly okay for Senator Obama to handle this crisis via long-distance had a field day when President Bush spent a holiday at his ranch in Crawford during a negotiation period (over something not deemed as emergent as our current financial crisis). So why are they not pointing their finger at Senators Obama and Biden and demanding that they return post-haste to DC, perhaps so they can then accomplish to paint Senator Obama as a seasoned executive with enough gravitas to get the “job done” and Senator Obama can focus on what he seems to prefer to do which is once again to focus on the sizzle and not the steak.
Let us not forget that many of the principal players in this current crisis are on the Obama team. Senator Dodd and Obama were the top two recipients of funds from Fannie Mae or was it Freddie Mac (both quasi-governmental agencies that had no business using taxpayer dollars to lobby legislators), then there’s Congressman Frank who loves Freddie and Fannie so much that he all but accused Senator McCain of histrionics when Senator McCain tried in vain to warn Congress that Freddie and Fannie were at risk of causing grave financial consequences to “We the People”.
What this citizen cannot believe is the audacity so many of the now indignant Senators and Congressman (especially Senator Obama and Biden) who feathered their nest with money from some of the very organizations and companies that helped to usher in this time of crisis. They spin ever so confidentially the story that Senator McCain is out of touch with economic reality, all the while they and their chronies worked to silence his voice, but they overlooked the redundancy that is our government and they cannot outrun the tapes and transcripts of those many meetings. Should have and could have Senator McCain been more perseverant about these issues, without a doubt, but it can be somewhat difficult when you are a “minority” voice and a majority from both parties seem to be intent on growing fat off of the public largesse.
So I remind my readers a President must be able to make the tough decisions and must be willing to pull the all nighters when circumstances call for it and must put aside his/her own priorities when the situation demands it. Unfortunately once again Senator Obama demonstrates that running his campaign is more important to him than doing the job he was elected for by the good people of Illinois; and Illinois may be able to find an absentee-Senator acceptable, but I don’t think this Country can afford an absentee-President and our men and women in uniform can ill afford an absentee-Commander-in-Chief.
