Down he goes

In a previous post, I described Obama's downward trend in job approval rating and speculated on the reasons why. That post was dated June 30th. Since then the polls still indicate that his job approval is in decline and may be picking up speed. In one short month, he has gone from 59% approval to just a hair over 54%. Disapproval has risen from 34% to just under 40%. At the current rate, they will cross over as soon as October, but definitely before year end. So let's look at what has happened over the past 30 days to cause an acceleration in decline.

First and foremost, details of his healthcare plan are becoming more widely known. People are starting to understand that we do not have a health care problem, but may have a health insurance problem. Those of us that have good insurance do not want the government to impact the quality of our healthcare by instituting a low cost, low quality plan that businesses will run to. Those that do not have good insurance want a low cost (free) option, but do not want to be fined if they do not purchase. They also do not want those that have insurance to derail a national healthcare plan. The two sides are aligning against each other as the debate grows louder.

Secondly, Obama called out a local law enforcement officer during a prime time press conference. Even those that were not aware of the details of the event were shocked and surprised that a sitting president of the United States would call out the actions of a private citizen. Many knew enough details from the situation to know the reputation of the police officer. He had an exemplary record and even taught classes on how to avoid racial profiling to other officers. While Obama said the police acted "stupidly", many understand that Obama was the only one who was acting in that manner.

Some now believe that his apparent mistake was intentionally made to redirect attention from healthcare just long enough to get it rammed through the Congress. I don't think he is smart enough, not that he isn't smart, just that the uproar and effects of the comment could not be accurately gauged prior to saying it.

The irony is that two different situations both hurt Obama's approval rating and create conflict between races, or between the insured and uninsured. This from a man who is supposed to be a healer of our nation? I firmly believe that Obama had no clue how his proposal and comment would be taken by the people. It is not that hard to understand. He has so little leadership experience.

If you hire an unqualified cab driver, you soon find yourself lost.

If you hire an unqualified financial advisor, you will lose money.

In virtually any profession, and unqualified person will fail.

When you hire an unqualified and unprepared president, the country endures ineffective leadership. We should not be surprised that our country is moving in the wrong direction.