Posted on 09/13/2013 3:01:49 AM PDT by markomalley
President Obama’s speech regarding Syria on Tuesday is best viewed as an attempt at political damage control. Obama hoped to stem the growing (and correct) public perception that he blundered badly at one or more stage of this crisis. His target audience was the only cohort to which he might provide reassurance — those who haven’t been paying close attention.
I thought that Obama had pulled off this limited feat, and that, absent a U.S. attack on Syria or the further use of chemical weapons by Assad, Obama would not suffer much additional political damage because of this matter.
Last night on Fox News, however, I happened to see the reaction of a Frank Luntz focus group to Obama’s speech. The comments of the participants showed widespread dissatisfaction with both the speech and Obama’s underlying behavior. The dissatisfaction crossed party lines.
Two caveats may be in order. First, it seemed that the focus group discussed the Syrian situation before viewing Obama’s speech. By doing so, its members became a relatively high-information audience. Thus, their reactions to the speech was not necessarily the reactions of Obama’s target audience — those who haven’t been paying close attention.
Second, a group dynamic seems to have been at work in Luntz’s group. The reaction of Democrats during the speech — as reflected in the moving line on a graph that’s based on the use of dials in real time — was more positive than their post-hoc commentary. Most viewers at home presumably were not subject to a strong group dynamic immediately following the speech.
But a group dynamic may be at work nonetheless. Late night comedians — David Letterman included — are ridiculing Obama over Syria. I imagine they will want to move on in a day or two, but the impression they have left may well persist.
Moreover, the saga is not yet finished. Obama now will negotiate in some fashion with Putin and Assad. The negotiations will produce neither good optics nor good options. In essence Obama either will have to accept a patently phony, easily ridiculed deal or be thrown back into the same seemingly no-win situation (from a political standpoint) that prompted him to grasp at the straw of negotiations.
The media, I assume, will not harp on Syria, but neither will they avert their eyes completely. And the late night comedians will continue to enjoy a target rich environment when it comes to Syria.
Is the Obama presidency “collapsing” — “dissolve[ing] before our eyes” — as Pete Wehner argues? I’m not prepared to say that.
But Obama’s credibility seems to be eroding, at last, in the public’s mind. And may finally be starting to look small, and even a bit ridiculous, to many who have never viewed him that way.
I don’t want to get too excited because Obummer faced other crises in the White House due to his own incompetence, but I still sense the Syria debacle has disclosed to low info. voters that the President they elected is an emperor with no clothes. I even spoke to a liberal from Europe today and even he was shocked by Obomba’s behavior. He’s scratching his head and started to ponder that maybe conservatives in the US aren’t so bad after all. His biggest shock was that Obomba isn’t a man you can negotiate with or expect a compromise when an international crisis ensues. He’s now beginning to worry about what will happen when the next global crisis erupts, since the US will no longer be reliable.
"Good optics"???
Why do media writers seem to jump on the latest fan phrase? If they want to sound juvenile, just stick with the occasional "cool, dude" or a few extraneous "like"s thrown in.
I'd prefer "know what I mean, Vern" to something like "optics" when they mean "appearances". And don't get me started on the current fascination with "meme" and "bespoke"!
It’s not uncommon for there to begin to be “stories about the story” in the media, but I’m having trouble understanding why we are worrying more about the “optics” for Obama than we are about the potential for the US to blow up another country.
Thanks for all the posting you’ve been doing. At the risk of being called a member of the posting police, would you please post the author of the articles you post?
Lenin went through some tough times. That is essentially what we are seeing, history repeats. He stepped in the cow paddy in mid-treachery.
“Obama hoped to stem the growing (and correct) public perception that he blundered badly at one or more stage of this crisis.”>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I don’t want to get too excited because Obummer faced other crises in the White House due to his own incompetence,>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This was no blunder. It was purposeful, but Obama did not expect Putin to side with the American people.Putin outed Obamas fascist initiative, exposed it for all to see, the aiding and abetting of Al Qaeda and linked groups with the Saudi’s in aid, fighting a proxy battle on behalf of Sunni Islam against Shiite Islam. Obama is dabbling in a religious war, and he is owned by the Saudis, dedicated to a policy of spreading radical Islamism ( Islamofascism), destabilizing the ME and eventually the world, and dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
THE BLUNDER WAS NO BLUNDER. It was a grift like Benghazi but Putin suprisingly outed Obama, and may he continue to do so.Communists detest fascists, an historical truth.
Read about Obama fascism here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html
Vlad the Impaler ran over Barry the Inhaler on his warhorse, then galloped back and ran over him again with that newspaper column. Remember Barry’s remarks about Putin being like a slouching schoolboy? I thought at the time ‘ruh roh’, somewhere down the line there will be payback for that. Putin stuck a stick in Barry’s eye internationally, then wrote about it. Somebody had to knock the veneer off Barry and expose him for a feckless incompetent, even at ‘community organizing’ (NO allies) ..... took a kick-ass former KBG agent to do it since nobody in this country could/would do it.
He should worry because Europe has no world class Military power... they turned all of their weapons into bong pipes and socialist freebies. They have squandered their wealth trying to create a United States of Europe out of countries that have warred with each other for centuries. Europe is proof that diversity for diversity’s sake is corrosive and self defeating. That and they embrace the demons of islam.
LLS
Like so many of todays figures in pop culture it is style over substance that counts.
Take for instance lady gaga, she is similar to obammy in this respect.
Obammy wants to be seen as a star which is why he tries to pal around with such.
He is no politician, he is a punk.
I might say he is a politician, but he is certainly no statesman.
Obama has finally found something he and Putin agree on, neither think the USA is exceptional.
Author is Paul Mirengoff.
Patience ladies and gentlemen, patience. As you can all see.. "the king has NO clothes."
The “Oh...nevermind” speech should go down in history.
I’ve read some claiming it to have been a masterful speech, which is pure spin. Disjointed, pointless, even eye-contact couldn’t be maintained. And the message: The message...the target at which it struck was: “Nevermind...thanks for listening to us say what little we think we might have wanted to do — but we’ve changed our minds.”
I can’t think of any parallel to that in all of US history. It was an epic fail!
No one should be surprised. The guy is not qualified to run a hot dog stand.
Did he ever actually pass a bar exam? If so, is there proof?
I’ve noticed for the first time some serious disillusionment with Obama among African Americans on Facebook. I saw a discussion yesterday among them in which Obama was being described as a “crook”.
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