He can’t be that stupid, the guy is a sell-out.
I disagree ... he can be that stupid.
Just listen to Obama: he's got these lovely utopian ideas, and a sure sense that he can convince everybody to do what's right (as Obama defines "right.") He's a malignant narcissist, and this is how such people operate.
This is not at all unprecedented behavior. All you need to do is go back to the example of the earnest but misguided efforts of Jimmy Carter, or the British governments of the 1930s, to see a similar dynamic at work.
As to being a sell-out .... perhaps. More likely, though, he's being run around by smart, cynical folks who know just how to massage Obama's ego to get their way with him.