As a lifelong political nerd and longtime fan of The West Wing, I was impressed by how spectacularly Obama mismanaged the news cycle over the course of twenty-four hours. At a time when his very presidency is on the line with an increasingly imperiled health care reform initiative, The One has chosen to inject himself into the minutiae of a local law enforcement controversy (that involves a personal friend) and insult cops.
You don't have to be Leo McGarry or C.J. Craig to know that Obama shot himself in both feet with his remarks about the Gates affair at last night's press conference. At a press conference dedicated to, and dominated by, the president's promotion of his dying health care reform proposal, Obama chose to end the presser with extensive remarks on The Gates Arrest, thus making it THE STORY coming out of the evening.
Then today, when he would have been well-advised to go silent on the topic and let the furor over his remarks die down, he repeated and elaborated on his remarks to ABC News!
What a gift to his adversaries!
What might have been a 24-36 hour story is now guaranteed to run through the weekend, at least, knocking health care off the front page. Not only does the Obama/Gates Gate story further drive the nails in the coffin of health care reform, but it's probably good for another 5-7 point drop in his approval numbers by the end of the month.
I'd anticipated that Obama would crater around Labor Day, but he seems hellbent on beating that calendar and self-immolate by August 1st.
The first polls showing Obama dropping below 50% job approval will arrive just before Congress breaks on Friday, August 7th...the day that health care reform, cap-and-trade, and the Obama Administration's political future will all expire.
