Obama in No Man’s Land
A.B. Stoddard, The Hill
As President Barack Obama summoned Gen. Stanley McChrystal for his perp walk at the White House on Wednesday morning, Republicans were largely silent, for once. But Democrats and party liberals weren't defending Obama, just attacking McChrystal and his counterinsurgency strategy the president had embraced. Within the competing factions in burgeoning disagreement over Afghan war policy in his administration, Obama has tried taking shelter in the middle, his habitual no man's land where he is neither wartime commander nor consensus builder. In deciding to relieve McChrystal, Obama…
Spending Fight Freezes War Bill
Business Groups Push House to Vote Against Disclose Act
President Reasserts Leadership
Greg Sargent, Washington Post
A few quick points on Obama's decision to relieve Stanley McChrystal of his command.* In retrospect, it was inevitable that Obama would act swiftly to remove a quasi-insubordinate general at a time when Obama's leadership is coming under harsh attack on other fronts. With Obama facing mounting criticism for failing to mount a firm, hands-on response to another unfolding crisis — the Gulf oil spill — permitting a subordinate to openly flaunt disrespect for his leadership, without decisive action to remove him, just wasn't really an option.It's not impossible that the…
Obama & Dems in a Precarious Position
Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal
Democrats are acknowledging they'll lose ground in the midterms. The only question is how much. Today, the evidence points to quite a lot.The most important indicator is the president's job approval. In the Real Clear Politics average of the last two weeks' polls, President Obama has a 48% approval and 47% disapproval rating. This points to deep Democratic losses. The president's approval rating last November was 54% when his party was trounced in New Jersey and Virginia.On the economy, a mid-June AP poll reported that Mr. Obama has 45% approval, 50% disapproval….
