Home About Chat Users Issues Party Candidates Polling Firms Media News Polls Calendar Key Races United States President Senate House Governors International

New User Account
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource." 
Email: Password:

  Obama, Jimmy Carter Reborn
NEWS DETAILS
Parent(s) Candidate 
ContributorScott³ 
Last EditedScott³  Mar 26, 2009 12:42pm
Logged 0
CategoryOpinion
News DateSaturday, March 7, 2009 06:40:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionThe Virtuous Republic

"I remember distinctly a lecture given in one of my graduate courses in Presidential Politics on the Carter years.

Jimmy Carter didn’t prioritize his objectives and he was a micromanager. As result, Congress couldn’t determine which programs were most important to Carter and therefore, many languished on the Hill.

Carter also tended to micromanage all details of policy, instead of delegating responsibilities. Thus, with limited time, some issues were ignored, especially where foreign policy was involved. Our enemies were assumed to have good intentions. Iran, Salt I, Afghanistan–they all came as big surprises to a president who naively approached foreign policy on a part time basis.

Jump thirty years ahead, and we find the NYT’s describing history repeating itself.

The Sunday Telegraph understands that one of Mr Obama’s most prominent African American backers, whose endorsement he spent two years cultivating, has told friends that he detects a weakness in Mr Obama’s character.

“The one real serious flaw I see in Barack Obama is that he thinks he can manage all this,” the well-known figure told a Washington official, who spoke to this newspaper. “He’s underestimating the flood of things that will hit his desk.” A Democratic strategist, who is friends with several senior White House aides, revealed that the president has regularly appeared worn out and drawn during evening work sessions with senior staff in the West Wing and has been forced to make decisions more quickly than he is comfortable."
Share
ArticleRead Full Article

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION