Politico's typical bitchiness undercuts a few valid concerns

Politico has its moments. Ben Smith, one of their bloggers, is an actual journalist. He doesn't write for sensation, or to help one party over there other. He writes his blog to be interesting political news. The rest of Politico, not so much.

That's why a story like today's "7 stories Barack Obama doesn't want told," is so frustrating. There are some important nuggets in the story - at its core, the article is about certain memes about President Obama that are taking hold, and potentially damaging to him and his presidency. Of course, being Politico, even the title of the article reads like it's straight out of Cosmopolitan or the National Enquirer - hinting at sex and scandal and who knows what other sordid secrets. Don't get me wrong, much of the story is crap, precisely because it seems to have been written to titillate, if just politically. But, I would argue that perhaps five of the seven memes (if you ignore Politico's partisan-tainted analysis) are worth paying attention to - not that they're necessarily true, but that the GOP is succeeding in convincing the public that they're true. Here they are:

1. He thinks he’s playing with Monopoly money - YES

He doesn't, but I do think that the Republicans have done a great job of painting Obama, and Democrats generally, as profligate spenders. It's absurd, since starting in the Reagan years, it's been Republicans who have repeatedly broken the bank with their spending. But Democrats did a poor job of raising the deficit as an issue during the GOP administrations, while the Republicans did a pretty amazing job of tagging the Dems in just the past 11 months. The Obama team should have done a much better job defending the stimulus package and the bailouts AFTER they occurred. It's almost as if the legislation passed, or the package was implemented, and the administration washed its hands of it. The administration and the Dems on the Hill should be in constant campaign mode. All promote, always defend, always attack. They're not.

2. Too much Leonard Nimoy - YES

The point being: All brain, not enough heart. I do think the President runs the risk of coming across as too cerebral. That every decision will be analyzed to death. That he never gets angry (like real people do).

3. That’s the Chicago Way - NO

I don't get this one. I've heard the GOP repeatedly push this theme, but being from Chicago, I don't get it. Many of us wish Obama would show a more hard-hitting side. We're not concerned that he's too tough, too nasty, too hard-hitting. Perhaps the attack is taking hold - I don't see it.

4. He’s a pushover - YES

This one is dangerous for Obama. A lot of people, Democrats and Republicans, think that he's a pushover. That he doesn't like - will actively avoid - controversy. That he refuses to spend political capital. That he won't keep a political promise if it might upset the Republicans, or conservative Democrats. Even the president's greatest victories in the past year - the stimulus and it's 40% give-away to tax cuts in order to woo 3 Republican votes, comes to mind - hold a very mixed message of "success" and "psyche!"

5. He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe - YES AND NO

I don't think there's any basis for this claim, it's absurd. But, it is a key talking point of the far right, always - that world government is going to take over and ruin our American way of life. It's batty, but the conservative wing of the GOP - which is now most of the GOP - believes it. The question is whether it ever matters what the FOX News crowd thinks. They're still a minority of the public, regardless of how angry and nasty they are.

6. President Pelosi - NO

I don't see it, and I don't get it. The notion that Pelosi has somehow taken advantage of Obama and run rough-shod over him. If anything, I think the opposite has happened. And regardless of the truth of the accusation, I'm not convinced it even is an accusation. The GOP has tried to demonize Pelosi, often in a rather sexist manner, but they haven't claimed that she's somehow stolen Obama's manhood. I just don't see it. (Oh, and Politico's claim that the Speaker is as popular as Dick Cheney is crap. She's at 41% approval. Cheney has consistently hung out around 20%.)

7. He’s in love with the man in the mirror - YES

I'm not saying he IS in love with himself, I'm saying that such a perception is out there - that Team Obama thinks they're the smartest folks in the world, so you should go away and let them save the world - and it's dangerous for the President and Democrats in general.