Two headlines and articles shows why the Obama campaign has gone from arrogance to fear since the "official" launch of Barack Obama's reelection campaign.
The Politico, "Obama stumbles out of the gate."
Nothing inspires Democrats like the Barack Obama swagger — the supreme self-confidence on stage, the self-certainty in private.
So nothing inspires more angst than when that same Obama stumbles, as he has leaving the gate in 2012.
That’s the unmistakable reality for Democrats since Obama officially launched his reelection campaign three weeks ago. Obama, not Mitt Romney, is the one with the muddled message — and the one who often comes across as baldly political. Obama, not Romney, is the one facing blowback from his own party on the central issue of the campaign so far — Romney’s history with Bain Capital. And most remarkably, Obama, not Romney, is the one falling behind in fundraising.
The reasons above, plus some Politico didn't mention gives way to Buzz Feed's headline, "Not Arrogant Any More."
Two difficult weeks for President Obama have shaken the overwhelming confidence of his campaign in Chicago and of Democratic leaders in Washington, and prompted a depressing realization: This is, at best, 2004, not 1996. At worst it's 1992.
Democrats had taken comfort for months in the Republican Party’s seeming inability to get behind Mitt Romney, Obama’s healthy lead in the polls, and equally healthy job growth. And for a few, fleeting, moments, Democrats thought the election might just be easy. But Republican division appears to have been merely an artifact of primary politics, and Mitt Romney has proved a consistent, if unglamorous campaigner.
And this week, amid poor economic indicators and continuing voter frustration, Democrats returned to the harsh reality that this election is going to be anything but a walk in the park.
“There was this sense maybe a month or two ago that Obama was really riding high — that he had gotten his base behind him and the economy was doing better and it had this Clinton vs. Bob Dole 1996 feeling — that he was going to cruise,” said one 2008 Obama aide who does not work for this year’s campaign. “And now it feels like it’s going to be really tough — a 2004 race.”
Indeed the campaign is shaping up to be a close-combat battle for one percent of swing voters in a few hundred precincts across three or four states.
This is no longer 2008 where Obama was a blank slate, so he could make pretty promises, nice speeches and claim that he was different.
It is 2012 and Obama now has a record to defend, a record which he claims holds lofty accomplishments, the problem is those so-called accomplishments were opposed by the majority of Americas who he now needs in order to reelected. (Example- Obamacare)
This is no longer a candidate that his fingers on the pulse of America, he now is a man that has taken public positions against the will of the electorate.
A few examples:
Keystone Pipeline, Obama rejected it, yet a large segment of Democrats, Republicans across the board, and even some unions which are part of Obama's base, by large majorities wanted it. 69 House Democrats voted with Republicans against Obama's position.
The individual mandate which is part of Obamacare and is now in the hands of the Supreme Court and is believed, by the majority of Americans, to be unconstitutional. Even Democrats that favor Obamacare on the whole have shown that a majority thinks the individual mandate is a violation of their constitutional rights.
Arizona's 2010 immigration law, which at the time, was favored by not only Arizona citizens but the concepts embraced by 60 percent of Americans nationally.... recent polling shows they still do, yet the Obama administration instigated a lawsuit against Arizona for enforcing federal laws already on the books against illegal immigration. That too is now being decided by the Supreme Court.
Obama attacked Religious Freedom, resulting in a very high profile fight where just last week, 43 separate Catholic institutions, felt so threatened by his attacks, they filed 12 different lawsuits against the Obama administration.
Obama cannot talk about the economy at length because too many Americans are still suffering three years after he took office. He cannot talk about jobs at length because unemployment is still over 8 percent three years after he took office. He cannot tout his energy plans because gas prices and electric bills are still way too high.
So Obama attacks Religious institutes. He attacks Arizona for defending their borders. He attacks the GOP. He attacks the Supreme Court because they may rule against him on the Obamacare and AZ immigration law. He attacks Capitalism because Romney dared to make money when working with Bain.
Obama is not just stumbling out of the gate as Politico describes it, he is flailing like a fish out of water, trying to find one special issue that will stop Americans from harping on the economy, jobs, gas prices, etc... and he is failing.
Obama's desperation has gotten so bad, his own campaign is helping to organize protests against Romney outside of Romney campaign stops. (H/T Gateway Pundit)
Wapo:
Outside, meanwhile, some brick row houses across from the school were boarded up. Police had cordoned off a full city block to protect Romney and his entourage. Residents, some of them organized by Obama’s campaign, stood on their porches and gathered at a sidewalk corner to shout angrily at Romney. Some held signs saying, “We are the 99%.” One man’s placard trumpeted an often-referenced Romney gaffe: “I am not concerned about the very poor.”
Jack Kelly at RCP:
Adjectives frequently applied to Mr. Obama are "smart" (278 million hits on Google), "intelligent" (62 million) and "brilliant" (24 million).
For a man described as "smart," brilliant" and "intelligent" by so many of his supporters, Obama certainly is campaigning dumb.
