Mark Halperin's "What Obama Needs to Come Back: Luck" commentary

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

As part of the fallout of the November elections, Time's Mark Halperin wrote his take. What may be the most provocative part in the piece is copied/pasted below (emphasis mine):

Even if the President somehow sloughs off that Spock-like laconic demeanor and dispatches his fired-up-and-ready-to-go persona, he isn't going to be able to change many of the dynamics that have weakened him. Republicans are emboldened by the results of the midterm elections and by their continued discipline and verve in driving the same message since Election Day (and likely well into 2011). They believe they can beat Obama for re-election and will stay on their winning path as long as it is working. Liberals, frustrated and rattled, are poised to cry betrayal whenever the President cooperates with the GOP. And the rancid freak show of the politico-media industrial complex is as toxic as ever.

Should Obama effectively confront these dynamics, he will still need some luck. Busy as he's been, he has not yet experienced a single major moment that has benefited him politically. The most dramatic events of his term — the BP oil spill, the passage of the health-care law, the arms-control agreement with Russia — have had either no impact or a negative influence on Obama's standing.

No one wants the country to suffer another catastrophe. But when a struggling Bill Clinton was faced with the Oklahoma City bombing and a floundering George W. Bush was confronted by 9/11, they found their voices and a route to political revival. Perhaps Obama's crucible can be positive — the capture of Osama bin Laden, the fall of the Iranian regime, a dramatic technological innovation that revitalizes American manufacturing — something to reintroduce him to the American people and show the strengths he demonstrated as a presidential candidate.

Link: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2035270,00.html

Rush Limbaugh did a good job addressing/criticizing this line of thought in Monday's radio show, so my commentary will be limited. That said, the Oklahoma City and 9/11 comparisons are frightening in themselves (though, there should be something said with Halperin's Bush/Clinton double standard). And yet, what is more frightening is that the Left thinks they may be the only way for President Obama to be resurrected. (As for the Iranian regime toppling, Obama had a perfect opportunity in 2009, and absolutely blew it. Needless to say, I don't think it will be from that, but I could be quite wrong.)

Say what you will about Halperin, but this article is the perfect slice of MSM-Left thinking for the next two years. Be familiar with it, and get used to it, unfortunately.