[By Dick Morris]
Natural disasters usually follow the same political trajectory: First the incumbent experiences a bounce as he tours the impacted area, shows his concern, and pledges help to his beleaguered constituents. But then reality sets in and the shortages, delays, mishaps, deaths, and devastation becomes apparent and people turn against the incumbent.
George W. Bush had his Katrina.
And now Barack Obama has his Sandy.
Last week, Obama asserted a kind of ownership of the storm by touring New Jersey in the now infamous embrace of Republican stalwart Governor Chris Christie. Now that we are all appalled by the lack of food, gas, water, heat, and the basic essentials of life throughout the storm zone, Obama’s government doesn’t look so good anymore.
Why didn’t FEMA stockpile food, water, and gasoline? We had a week’s notice to prepare for Sandy. There was no shortage of time. Did the government not realize that people needed to eat, drink, and drive?
All throughout America, we are asking these questions of our television sets as we watch the evolving story of human misery.
Meanwhile, Obama has resumed the campaign trail, pounding the opposition in the same relentless and partisan style which he used before the storm. When Obama said that voting was “the best revenge,” he threw away whatever presidentiality he displayed in touring storm damage earlier in the week.
As he entered the last week before the Congressional election of 1994, President Clinton returned to the U.S. after having presided over the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. He called me on his return and asked where he should campaign? Which incumbent Democrats should he try to help get re-elected?
I told him he should not campaign for any of them.
“No, you don’t understand,” he explained. I just came back from the Middle East and my ratings are up ten points. Before, I would have hurt the candidates I campaigned for, but not now. Now I can help them.”
“Your ratings are up because your trip hyped your presidentiality. Now, if you start campaigning, you’ll look like a politician and your ratings will come down again. You’ll end up doing more harm than good to those you are trying to help.”
He disregarded the advice and lost both houses of Congress in the elections.
Now Obama is making the same mistake. By campaigning, particularly by using the same harsh partisan rhetoric which has characterized his campaign, Obama is dragging down his ratings and with it his chances of victory.
Particularly when we see the juxtaposition of the mounting disaster in New York and New Jersey and the President out on the campaign trail attacking his opponents, we realize that Obama is a candidate before he is president, more worried about his second term than the welfare of his constituents.
In yesterday’s polling numbers, I saw a rise in Obama’s ratings and warned that the race was far from over. Now, we see him throwing it all away and resuming his crash into a single term presidency.
(Source: DickMorris.com)
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5 Responses
From your words to G-d’s airs
Wasn’t his promise enough do you need him to keep it as well
I find it bizarre that YWN would find any commentary from this pervert to be worthy of publiclation. There are so many responsible and knowledgeable conservative pundits and political gurus whose observations are posted here frequently and merit consideration. However, this guy is so unworthy of the attention from this site. Overall, the governments at the federal and state levels are doing a great job in the aftermanth of a once in 100 year storm. For Republicans who stress individual responsibility to fault the same government who they want to downsize further is the ultimate hypocricy but Morris is clearly the biggest of them all.
And to fault bush during katrina ? And not allowing non union electricians to help i thought union supposedly care about people
NObama could have won this election by a landslide had he suspended his campaign and just said that he is not continuing to campaign as the American people need a leader right now to assist in the recovering from Sandy and devoted the remaining days of the campaign to that.
What a statement that would have made, more than any additional campaigning in the swing states.
He should lose the election just for messing that up.