A Leader Who Can't or Won't Lead

When Obama was in the Illinois Senate, he had a history of voting "present" (The equivalent of: "I don't know?" or "I'm not sure?") rather than definitively voting "yea" or "nay" on most of the bills in that legislative body.

While in the United States Senate (for only roughly two years before campaigning), he accomplished nothing. He tacked himself onto a couple of bills; but, for the most part, he was just a tag-along. A follower. Not a leader.

When most of the country knew that Reverend Wright was detrimental to his candidacy, Obama stuck with him until Wright, himself, put the final nail in his own coffin. Only then did Obama toss him overboard. This shows a lack of an ability to judge character. Bill Ayers was another example.

Prior to being sworn in, he constantly displayed a seal titled: "Office of the President Elect." It was as if he lacked the confidence to believe that he was actually elected. Do you think that anyone in this country (except for those in a coma) didn't know he was elected to be the President? That seal was childish. Leaders are leaders by their actions and not by some "made-up" label on a podium.

Obama decided to pick Governor Richardson of New Mexico despite the fact that he was already under investigation for "pay for play" as related to his Political Action Committee (PAC). In doing so, he seemed oblivious to the political consequences that would ultimately unfold. Bad judgment.

He has consistently criticized lobbyists. He has banned them from any contact with his Administration and banned people who leave his camp from becoming one. Yet, he's hired over 20 of them to be on his team. If you want to be taken seriously, lay down the rules and abide by them yourself.

When the Stimulus Plan was just an embryo, he met with Pelosi and Reid and, from all appearances, simply gave them a cursory overview. They filled in the blanks. Then, he literally backed off, hardly knowing what was in the ultimate bill. From then on, he just kept giving campaign-style speeches as to why it needed to be passed and passed immediately. There was never a sleeves-rolled-up session with the representatives of both political parties to get the bill passed on a bipartisan basis. I really doubt that he or anyone in his Administration had a chance to read it and agree to the contents. On the stimulus plan, it seemed to me that he acted as only the "ad agency" that was hired to change public opinion.

Lastly, in order to motivate the country's acceptance of the stimulus plan, he used fear and not the prospect of recovery to force feed it through the legislative process and to try and gain national acceptance. While that kind of motivation might work to get people to leave an area or run away from danger, it is hardly a motivator to get people to do something positive; and, use it too often and you're merely viewed as "crying wolf."

All of these things taken individually might not be too insightful. However, taken all together, they paint a picture of a figurehead and not a leader. Like all of those "present" votes in Illinois, this man appears not to be ready for prime time. That was to be expected. He was simply a junior Senator with hardly a single term under his belt. He ran nothing and had no experience with getting things done in Congress. He wasn't there long enough to do anything. The Stimulus Bill is a perfect example of what happens when you can't lead. It is neither targeted, short-termed, or, ultimately, will it be effective.

The only thing that this guy seems to be familiar with is campaigning and giving speeches. He's Mr. Speech! In the last week, he's used Air Force One like some type of whistle-stop campaign train. He went to Caterpillar in Indiana. He has since moved on to Colorado to hype and sign the Stimulus. Yesterday, he was in Phoenix to release and hype a home lending plan. Each time, he seems to be desperately trying to convince us, that what he is doing is the right thing to do. But, at times, he seems to be trying to convince himself as well.

I just don't see a leader. Not even a cheerleader. I see four more years of bad decisions and I would expect quite a few more statements from him like the one he made a couple of weeks ago when he said that he "screwed up!"

If he is just a figurehead, one has to wonder who's really running the show.