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But no one cares.
Except maybe for people too ignorant and blind to acknowledge that there were any successes. HC and that other guy, who's login I can't bother to remember, I'm looking at you.
OCTOBER 21, 2011, 7:53 AM
The Value of Foreign Policy Victories for Obama
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
If there was one area of doubt about Barack Obama that lingered in people’s minds during — and even after — the 2008 campaign, it was how well he could handle a foreign policy crisis.
That doubt was planted by his rival at the time, Senator Hillary Clinton, whose most memorable television ad questioned whether people could trust Mr. Obama to take a 3 a.m. call in the Oval Office about a world crisis.
“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep, but there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something is happening in the world,” the ad said. “Who do you want answering the phone?”
Now, three years later, Mr. Obama’s actions as the nation’s commander in chief may have all but erased many of those doubts in the public’s mind.
On Thursday, Libyan officials announced the death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. In a Rose Garden statement, Mr. Obama hailed the American role in his death at the hands of Libyans.
“A coalition that included the United States, NATO and Arab nations persevered through the summer to protect Libyan civilians,” Mr. Obama said. “And meanwhile, the courageous Libyan people fought for their own future and broke the back of the regime.”
That success followed the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a key terrorist in Yemen, by an American drone authorized by Mr. Obama. And last spring, Mr. Obama ordered the raid that ended with the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But if Mr. Obama has satisfied many of the doubters about his ability to answer the 3 a.m. call, a nagging political question still remains as he begins his campaign for re-election next year: will it matter?
Is it possible that Mr. Obama has managed to meet — or even exceed — the expectations placed on him in the one area of policy that will not matter that much when it comes times for voters to pull the lever in November 2012?
Surveys suggest that people do give Mr. Obama high marks on foreign policy despite the efforts of some Republicans on Capitol Hill and his rivals on the presidential campaign trail.
But that has not helped his overall approval ratings because the country is so focused on domestic policy, and in particular the economic struggles that are affecting their homes, their jobs and their ability to feel good about the future.
After Bin Laden was killed in May, Mr. Obama did get a political boost, rising several points in the polls. And the victory helped quiet some of his most vocal critics in the Republican party.
The Bin Laden bump lasted just a few weeks, though, until the continuing impact of the economic downturn was once again front and center for most Americans.
And in some ways, the president’s success in hunting terrorists highlights his lack of success in other areas.
People who voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 expected him to keep the promise that his administration would change the way Washington operates. They believed him when he said the country’s economic fortunes would turn around.
Mr. Obama has not met the expectations in those areas for many people. The challenge for the president and his advisers in the coming year is to figure out how use his success in foreign policy and war-fighting to offset his difficulties elsewhere.
One possibility is that the president’s campaign could try to shift the election-year discussion more toward foreign policy. He could talk more about his wartime victories, and his campaign could spend more time highlighting the reduction of troops in Afghanistan or Iraq.
But that strategy runs the risk of seeming to be out of step with the conversation that American voters want to have. And it has the potential to backfire if people think the president is eager to avoid discussing the economy.
The issue is also not a natural fit for a Democratic candidate. Republican presidents have a long tradition of appealing to the American people on the issue of how to keep the country safe. Democrats do not.
The other option for Mr. Obama’s strategists is to try to find a way to link his foreign policy successes to the issue of his leadership on the country’s economic fortunes. That may not be as impossible as it sounds, though it would not be easy by any means.
Surveys suggest that people want a president who will show decisive leadership when it comes to addressing the economic crisis. They want boldness and a feeling that the president is in charge and confident. (Even Mr. Obama’s Republican opponents have been demanding it: they keep urging him to show leadership.)
If the president can use his foreign policy successes to bolster the broader idea that he is a decisive leader in other areas as well, Americans might come to view him differently.
One of the strengths of the president’s campaign in 2008 was in developing a narrative about him — an overarching story about hope. It’s possible that a new narrative could be developed about Mr. Obama that describes him as decisive, bold and confident. That could go a long way toward helping his re-election chances.
Mr. Obama’s advisers are keenly aware of the challenge that faces them.
But that doesn’t make it any easier.
The Value of Foreign Policy Victories for Obama
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
If there was one area of doubt about Barack Obama that lingered in people’s minds during — and even after — the 2008 campaign, it was how well he could handle a foreign policy crisis.
That doubt was planted by his rival at the time, Senator Hillary Clinton, whose most memorable television ad questioned whether people could trust Mr. Obama to take a 3 a.m. call in the Oval Office about a world crisis.
“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep, but there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something is happening in the world,” the ad said. “Who do you want answering the phone?”
Now, three years later, Mr. Obama’s actions as the nation’s commander in chief may have all but erased many of those doubts in the public’s mind.
On Thursday, Libyan officials announced the death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. In a Rose Garden statement, Mr. Obama hailed the American role in his death at the hands of Libyans.
“A coalition that included the United States, NATO and Arab nations persevered through the summer to protect Libyan civilians,” Mr. Obama said. “And meanwhile, the courageous Libyan people fought for their own future and broke the back of the regime.”
That success followed the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a key terrorist in Yemen, by an American drone authorized by Mr. Obama. And last spring, Mr. Obama ordered the raid that ended with the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But if Mr. Obama has satisfied many of the doubters about his ability to answer the 3 a.m. call, a nagging political question still remains as he begins his campaign for re-election next year: will it matter?
Is it possible that Mr. Obama has managed to meet — or even exceed — the expectations placed on him in the one area of policy that will not matter that much when it comes times for voters to pull the lever in November 2012?
Surveys suggest that people do give Mr. Obama high marks on foreign policy despite the efforts of some Republicans on Capitol Hill and his rivals on the presidential campaign trail.
But that has not helped his overall approval ratings because the country is so focused on domestic policy, and in particular the economic struggles that are affecting their homes, their jobs and their ability to feel good about the future.
After Bin Laden was killed in May, Mr. Obama did get a political boost, rising several points in the polls. And the victory helped quiet some of his most vocal critics in the Republican party.
The Bin Laden bump lasted just a few weeks, though, until the continuing impact of the economic downturn was once again front and center for most Americans.
And in some ways, the president’s success in hunting terrorists highlights his lack of success in other areas.
People who voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 expected him to keep the promise that his administration would change the way Washington operates. They believed him when he said the country’s economic fortunes would turn around.
Mr. Obama has not met the expectations in those areas for many people. The challenge for the president and his advisers in the coming year is to figure out how use his success in foreign policy and war-fighting to offset his difficulties elsewhere.
One possibility is that the president’s campaign could try to shift the election-year discussion more toward foreign policy. He could talk more about his wartime victories, and his campaign could spend more time highlighting the reduction of troops in Afghanistan or Iraq.
But that strategy runs the risk of seeming to be out of step with the conversation that American voters want to have. And it has the potential to backfire if people think the president is eager to avoid discussing the economy.
The issue is also not a natural fit for a Democratic candidate. Republican presidents have a long tradition of appealing to the American people on the issue of how to keep the country safe. Democrats do not.
The other option for Mr. Obama’s strategists is to try to find a way to link his foreign policy successes to the issue of his leadership on the country’s economic fortunes. That may not be as impossible as it sounds, though it would not be easy by any means.
Surveys suggest that people want a president who will show decisive leadership when it comes to addressing the economic crisis. They want boldness and a feeling that the president is in charge and confident. (Even Mr. Obama’s Republican opponents have been demanding it: they keep urging him to show leadership.)
If the president can use his foreign policy successes to bolster the broader idea that he is a decisive leader in other areas as well, Americans might come to view him differently.
One of the strengths of the president’s campaign in 2008 was in developing a narrative about him — an overarching story about hope. It’s possible that a new narrative could be developed about Mr. Obama that describes him as decisive, bold and confident. That could go a long way toward helping his re-election chances.
Mr. Obama’s advisers are keenly aware of the challenge that faces them.
But that doesn’t make it any easier.
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