President Obama’s choice

That’s when Obama’s political troubles began.

It’s been said that America is a centrist country.  And just as Ronald Reagan had pulled it to the right, Barack Obama had hoped to pull it more to the left, as FDR had done.   But with Americans’ worst fears having departed, the job quickly became arduous.

We’ve since seen the rise of the tea party movement and a national preoccupation with deficits and debt.   Within a few short months, Americans changed from being willing to spend trillions to avert financial Armageddon to being equally willing to move mountains to rein in spending.

This stunningly rapid lurch from left to right has Washington reeling and both sides scrambling to catch up.    It is seemingly unprecedented, and it will likely alter the landscape profoundly come November.

And what about President Obama?   He must realize that a nation like America cannot, under anything less than calamitous times, be effectively governed from the left without a backlash at the polls.   FDR is the great exception that proves the rule.   And even under FDR, it took the Great Depression to prepare Americans for what he had in mind.

Despite the economic and financial convulsions of 2008 and early 2009, the familiar patterns and rhythms of American life go on.   That is the dominant political fact that hangs over the Obama administration and presidency.   Will the president acknowledge it?  Will he act on it, by moving toward the center to rescue his presidency?

Paul Liben has worked in New York City and Washington, DC as a speechwriter for the past 15 years.   He served as a speechwriter for New York Governor George Pataki and then as director of speechwriting for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.   A published writer, he has written op-eds for more than 100 publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer and Houston Chronicle.