I Won

“I won”
- President Obama to the Republican Congressional delegation at a White House meeting on the economy.

Over the last five days there has been no doubt who is in charge. President Obama has issued five executive orders (three regarding Gitmo) and five Presidential memoranda, one of which reinforced the Freedom of information act and the other which lifted the controversial “Mexico City” gag rule. All this while becoming the winning answer for a bar bet (name a President who has been administered the oath of office twice in his first term) and pushing a massive stimulus package.

Obama has hit the ground running.

The country is just not use to a President who is this prepared and this engaged. We have gotten as lazy in our expectations as Bush was in his administration. Even those limited expectations dwindled since 2006, when it became evident that Bush was disengaging from his Presidency and any change the voters hoped for was going to wither in a closely divided Senate. In 2007 voters gave up and picked up the chant of a loyal Cub’s fan “Wait ‘till next year.”

The Republicans also don’t know how to act when faced with an activist President who knows his own mind. They now have to learn to think for themselves. They can no longer expect Dick Cheney to show up in their caucus every week with a sheaf of instructions from the White House. Their days of paint-by-number legislation are over. They are now struggling to decide what to draw.

What is complicating the Republican’s decision is they have not been this powerless since 1994 and they don’t realize that yet. That is why they can sit in a White House conference room with the President and feel they can make demands. From Rep. Boehner complaining about the inclusion of contraception price supports in the stimulus package to Sen. Cronyn’s hold on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s nomination, every action they take seems to underscore how hapless they are.

The press is also looking a little lost. Over the past 10 years, the White House has been a constant source of stories about scandal, incompetence and lack of vision. Now they are faced with a President and staff that are organized, hard working, experienced and who know exactly what they want. The press doesn’t know how to react.

Witness how they covered John Roberts’ return to the White House to administer the oath of office for a second time. Clearly this was a move by Obama to salve Justice Roberts’ pride. It was also a nice move by Roberts to give the President a chance to correctly recite oath he has worked so hard for the past two years to take. Instead of reminding the nation that under the 20th Amendment Obama became President at Noon on January 20th, regardless of whether or not the oath was administered, their focus was on how they all were not invited to this second swearing in. They saw this as a major betrayal of the President’s high ideal of transparency. Not since the Clinton White House Press corps was told it could no longer hang out in the hallway by the Press Secretary’s office has the White House press corps been so upset about so little.

Among the Congressional Democrats, Speaker Pelosi is the only one who understands Obama won and they are in charge. Sen. Harry Reid still acts as if the Democrats are working in an evenly divided Senate. Unlike the House where majority power is absolute, the Senate rules are designed to protect the minority and slow wishes of the majority. But Reid does not seem to believe that he has the power to stand up to the Republicans and push through the President’s agenda. Think of what LBJ would have done with the majority that Reid now has to work with. Every time I see Sen. Reid in front of a camera I want to send him my copy of “The Master of the Senate” with all the hot parts highlighted.

The Left is also learning that Obama won. They felt anyone would be better than Bush and that anyone would of course be a liberal. So it has been interesting watching the Left trying to decide how to disagree with Obama. Their reaction to the stimulus package as being too many tax cuts and not enough infrastructure spending highlights their quandary. Their arguments against Obama’s tax cuts feels knee jerk. Yet the stimulus package tax cuts are focused on the lower and middle income levels making this a genuine “trickle up” economic vehicle.

This last week has been like watching actors at the rehearsal of a play where everyone is trying to be “off-book” for the first time. They will say a few lines, freeze, mangle their words, look at their script or trip over the stage furniture. The only one who knows what should be going on is the Director, who confidently maneuvers everyone in their place and helps them learn their parts. I hope these actors learn their lines soon and Director Obama has a successful opening.