Investor's Business Daily _Andrew Malcolm_ (http://www.investors.com/AndrewMalcolm/) (http://www.investors.com/Rss.axd?path=AHMalcolmRSS.xml) Political News & Commentary Sponsored by:
The 'Dump Obama' movement has begun; Guess who'd replace him? Faced with peanut-sized Jimmy Carter poll numbers, disturbing big-donor reluctance, unacceptable unemployment and depressing economic forecasts, President Obama heads back on the road tomorrow to do what he always does when in trouble: Call again for someone to do something about new jobs. He's just back from eight days in Hawaii and Australia and Bali. Now, he's off to palm-tree-free New Hampshire, where as expected Republicans have been plotting for months to oust him next Nov. 6. Recent polls have Obama's disapproval around 50% and his approval 6-10 points lower, worse for his handling of the economy. That's the reverse of what it should be now for a good reelection shot. Nearly three-quarters of Americans feel the country is on the wrong track under his leadership. But who thought the real emerging danger for the incumbent Democrat would be friendly fire from within his own party? This morning's Wall Street Journal carries an overtly ominous op-ed for the president. It's by two Democrat heavyweight pollsters, Douglas Schoen and Patrick Caddell. Their _first paragraph_ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203611404577041950781477944.html) says it all: "When Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson accepted the reality that they could not effectively govern the nation if they sought re-election to the White House, both men took the moral high ground and decided against running for a new term as president. President Obama is facing a similar reality—and he must reach the same conclusion." And you'll never guess which former Obama rival and current Secretary of State the pair thinks should replace the Chicagoan atop the 2012 Democratic ticket. Despite a call for a primary challenge by Sen. Bernie Sanders, no one seriously expected one to emerge. Although such intra-party struggles allow unhappy ideological factions to vent frustrations, of which the left has many with Obama, they also virtually foreclose victory in the ensuing general elections. However, there's still ample time for simmering party unhappiness with Obama and the growing fear of losing the White House and the Senate to reach a boiling point. So, the big money folks on both coasts quietly go to Obama next spring, urge him to be a realist and pull the plug on his reelection plans. As Schoen and Caddell point out, "It seems that the White House has concluded that if the president cannot run on his record, he will need to wage the most negative campaign in history to stand any chance." And even if wins, the resulting divisions and bitterness, they maintain, would leave Obama incapable of governing. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
