When a person is in a job that is clearly over their head -- and they know it -- the defensive response is to focus upon and do those things which they do well and are comfortable doing.
Jimmy Carter's assumption of the task of scheduling the White House tennis courts is a classic example of the tendency. Jimmy was in over his head -- and knew it -- so he became what he'd always been: a micro-manager of small things, a master of minutiae.
We are now seeing the same development in Obama. He can't handle his job, it's beyond his meager abilities -- and he full well knows it. So, he becomes a community agitator, blaming others for his own incompetence. It's something he is supremely good at doing.
But it's losing its luster, is it not? When the wheels come off this mega-charade it is going to be ugly, shameful, and embarrassing. Something to turn away from, it's so ugly.