Obama Love

I have been bashing on Obama lately, and I expect it to continue for quite some time. But just to show that I am a good sport, I am linking to a well-written post by Kevin Drum (hat-tip Dave Benen) that suggests Obama has been very effective.

What’s more, Obama also won passage during his first two years of a stimulus bill, a landmark healthcare bill that Democrats had been trying to pass for the better part of a century, a financial reform bill, and much needed reform of student loans. And more: a firm end to the Bush torture regime, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a hate crimes bill, a successful rescue of the American car industry, and resuscitation of the NLRB. Oh, and he killed Osama bin Laden too.

In fact, I think the post has given me something to think about. Obama has accomplished many good things for the liberal agenda - although I am far from convinced that this makes him the most effective president since Reagan or Johnson.

But his accomplishments in his first two years don't give him a free pass for his second two years. Good liberal accomplishments don't excuse how much he has moved away from liberalism after Healthcare and the 2010 elections. And because he has moved away, the country has gone to the right with him. I will continue to feel that recent events have shown him unwilling to stand up for what he believes in if he thinks those things are currently unpopular.

Drumm also reminds me of the deals that Obama secured during the lame duck session - deals that are worthy of praise. And maybe it is true that he couldn't have gotten a debt ceiling increase then also. But that doesn't mean he had to negotiate in the feckless manner that he did.

He acted in good faith and trusted the Republicans to do the same, which was clearly a mistake. Worse, he let himself get pulled into the wrong fight instead of talking about jobs and beating the Republicans up for not talking about jobs. Now both groups look out of touch, which is bad for the Republicans in Congress, but bad for Obama, too. He handled this poorly, and I think he will pay by losing a second term.

Update - More Posts that Don't Blame Obama
There is a good post at the Economist linking to some people that go easier on Obama and blame all of us for not convincing America that the liberal version of government is better. I don't disagree; we can all share the blame with Obama. Here is Drumm again, quoted in the post:

I blame the broad liberal community for our failures, not just President Obama. My biggest beef with Obama is the same one I had three years ago, namely that he's never really even tried to move public opinion in a specifically progressive direction. But that hardly even matters unless all the rest of us have laid the groundwork. And we haven't. Wonks, hacks, activists, all of us. We just haven't persuaded the public to support our vision of government. Until we do, the tea party tendency will always be more powerful than we are.