Thomas Friedman, "Obama Should Seize the High Ground": More Advice from He-Who-Knows-Best

Thank goodness, Thomas Friedman always has a simple remedy for all that pains us, including the economy, the Middle East, and Democratic campaign strategy!

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Obama Should Seize the High Ground" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-president-obama-should-seize-the-high-ground.html), Tom ponders how Obama "would do if he ran for re-election on all the things he’s accomplished but rarely speaks about." Among the achievements cited by Friedman:

• Obamacare
• Significantly increased mileage for vehicle fleets by 2025
• Obama's "rescue" of the economy

My goodness, why didn't Axelrod & Co., supreme masters of vapid political packaging, think of this? Maybe because the constitutionality of Obamacare is facing a serious challenge, its crushing costs were significantly misrepresented by the Obama administration, and it is extremely unpopular. In fact, according to an April 11, 2012 ABC News/Washington Post poll, Obamacare has never been more unpopular: 53% of Americans oppose the law, while only 39% support it, and two-thirds of Americans say the Supreme Court should overturn the entire law or at least the part that requires most individuals to to obtain insurance coverage (see: http://www.langerresearch.com/uploads/1136a4HealthCare.pdf).

Obama has significantly increased demands for fleet mileage? Great, but I wonder if I will be still alive in 2025 to see it, or whether the automobile industry, incapable of meeting this objective, will lobby for leniency as the deadline, more than a decade away, approaches. Personally, I would have been more pleased if Obama had approved the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have instantly provided jobs and offered relief from dependency upon Middle East oil during our lifetimes.

Obama has "rescued" the economy? I would remind Friedman of Obama's August 2011 declaration that his re-election will hinge on the state of the economy (see: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3445_162-20095106.html):

"'It frustrates people, understandably, when you've got an unemployment rate that is still too high, an economy that's not growing fast enough. And for me to argue, 'Look, we've actually made the right decisions, things would have been much worse has we not made those decisions,' that's not that satisfying if you don't have a job right now,' the president said. 'And I understand that, and I expect to be judged a year from now on whether or not things have continued to get better.'"

However, as recently observed by Peter Wehner of Commentary (see: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/04/very-ugly-jobs-report-obama-economy/), unemployment has exceeded 8 percent for a record 39 months, the labor force participation rate (64.3 percent) is at its lowest level in more than 30 years, and the employment-population ratio (58.4 percent) is even lower.

Criticizing Obama for not demanding more stimulus paired with some version of the Simpson-Bowles deficit plan, Friedman concludes by observing:

"In sum, Obama’s campaign right now feels as though it were made in a test tube by political consultants. It’s not the Obama we admire. Rather than pounding the country with 'I have a plan' — a rebuilding stimulus plus Simpson-Bowles — which would be an Obama-like message of hope, leadership and unity that would put him on higher ground that Romney can’t reach because of the radical G.O.P. base, Obama is selling poll-tested wedge issues. I don’t think it’s a winner for him or America."

Well, Obama doesn't have a plan. In fact, he doesn't even have a clue, and there is a reason Axelrod is now "selling poll-tested wedge issues."

But as always, thanks for the advice, Tom. Where would we ever be without it?