Executive Education

It's time to Break It Down!

This evening, President Obama will step up to a bank of microphones and address the nation, pitching Health Care Reform. He will, in his own words, and his most persuasive manner outline what he believes is essential for this important legislation.

In a strategic gambit, Mr. Obama has, until now, left the framing of the bill to the Congress. This was a pointed attempt to avoid the ill-fated outcome of the Clinton initiative on health care, which was preceded by the Clinton White House designing the proposal. Instead of winning plaudits for his power-sharing stratagem, the President has been roundly panned for failing to lead on this issue. As time is winding down to move on this key domestic agenda item this year, President Obama has concluded it’s now or never, and that this is a job for the Salesman-in-Chief.

I have no idea what the ultimate outcome will be. I do believe however, SOTDD (Same Old Tactic Different Day) applies to the opposition to this administration’s efforts to reform health care. In essence, when the GOP acts as the loyal opposition, the emphasis appears to be on opposition. They opposed Mr. Clinton at virtually every turn, for 8 years. They have opposed almost every word Mr. Obama has uttered. I do not expect this to change. The idea, as Senator Jim DeMint, South Carolina, aptly articulated, is kill Health Care Reform; destroy this President. The end result is a double bonus; win-win scenario.

In many regards, you might say the Health Care Reform debate has provided President Obama with an Executive Education. But the real point of this commentary is not health care, which I have written about before, but to briefly discuss the uproar over the President speaking to America’s school children yesterday.

If one were to just come upon the discordant array of conversation on this topic, it would be easy to presume this was a groundbreaking left-leaning development. Indeed, much of the full-throated roar of displeasure claims the idea was to insinuate, indoctrinate, or otherwise impose a Socialist Agenda on America’s children. That means for many, the idea that President Obama is a Socialist has currency. Of course, considering that “Birthers,” who assert Mr. Obama was not born in America, still manage to find traction, even though responsible media have long ago debunked that theory, it is clear a notion does not require the support of facts to be forcefully…and successfully argued.

In 1988 then President Ronald Reagan delivered a nation-wide speech to school children, via C-SPAN. In 1991, President George Herbert Walker Bush used a teleconference to do the same thing. While there is no record of significant push back, at least not to the degree of declining to air the speeches, in either case, it is true that Democrats panned both speeches, and labeled them “political.”

In retrospect that leads to a couple of observations:

1. The Party out of power will consistently question the motives of
the Party in Power
2. When in this position Republicans tend to be more effective at
marshaling synergy around their opposition than Democrats

Beyond those basic points, there is general agreement that President Obama’s actual comments were temperate. Even Newt Gingrich lauded them. Mr. Obama, speaking at an Arlington, Virginia school, talked for about 18 minutes, and spoke to students in simple direct terms. The Charlotte Observer provided the following excerpts from the text of the speech:

• “Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of
you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to
discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.”
• “I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and
to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple
as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each
day reading a book.”
• “I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect
great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your
family, your country, or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can
do it. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.”

In October 1991, President Bush asked school children to help him achieve his goals as President. Fast forward 18 years, and a proposed lesson plan from President Obama issuing a similar request induces a maelstrom of outrage from the political right. The outcry resulted in many school systems making the speech unavailable; a move which was underscored by parents who howled in protest, and who threatened to keep their children home from school.

Through it all, there is one point on which observers across the spectrum agree. The White House totally miscalculated the response to its initial lesson plan proposal. As for the President, it is just one more course in his “Executive Education.”

I’m done; holla back!

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