Losing Faith

It seems that everything I read and hear these days is signaling the progressive erosion of support for the Obama administration. This is worrisome -- for the president, his advisers, his party and his supporters.

I did not vote for Obama. I never really caught on to his "hope" and "change" mantra. Frankly, it was a naive platform. It was what the country needed (psychologically), though.

A year into the Obama administration, things are much different than what 53% of American voters expected.

I am not an Obama hater, a "birther" or a Tea Party activist. The fringes terrify me. I do, however, feel bad for Obama. At the same time, he campaigned for the job. It would be nice if he started leading.

His agenda is in shambles: health care reform appears to be going nowhere. Letting the Congressional Democrats hijack the legislative process was a mistake. Climate change is on hold. Immigration reform? No one wants to mention it, let alone touch it. Some of his terrorism policies are even a continuation of the previous administration. Perhaps the Bush administration's intuition was right.

Obama clearly needs to shift tactics, change course and reassess his goals. This includes a staff shake-up. Efficiency and professionalism are far more important than loyalty and sycophancy.

All of these factors combined are not a good mix heading into midterm elections. As a pragmatic conservative, I worry the Republicans are not ready to govern. Democrats have proved incompetent, though. It is time our elected officials stop thinking in election cycles.