As John points out below, Marc Ambinder (who seems to have a direct line to someone at the White House) says there's concern over there about the Obama brand. There should be. Top staffers and anonymous advisers are ruining the brand.
Here's a good example of how, again from Ambinder:
Quietly, to secure and keep Democrats on board, the White House is going to bargain, providing inducements, like more money for favored projects, etc., in order to secure individual votes.Really? Instead of pushing for good policy, they're going to buy votes with pork. That's the typical old politics of D.C. We'd expect that from a Rahm Emanuel White House. But, Obama promised something different. That's not change we can believe in. It's doing business the same old way, you know, the way Obama railed against during the campaign.
This really is about leadership. People want a leader who will fight for them -- and one who does the right thing, whatever he perceives that to be. Instead, we're seeing the White House bend over backwards for GOP support on every piece of major legislation -- support that will never, ever materialize. The Villagers (a perfect characterization first coined by Digby) love to overanalyze the process. But, real people don't care about the process, they want results.
We first saw this during the battle over the DOMA brief. That was not the change we expected. Yet, the White House defended their actions initially, then took some small steps to assuage us, then threw a party. Meanwhile, the Oval Office brain trust missed the damage that was done to Obama's brand through that craven, cynical process. Obama looked like he dumped his support for LGBT equality, something he proclaimed proudly during the campaign -- even more pro-gay than Hillary, he promised us -- in order to score some political points. He would have really scored points if he followed through on his promises.
Sometimes, I feel a little naive. I actually expect people to keep their promises -- even politicians. In D.C., that's not expected. And, no one here seems to understand that's one reason so many people don't trust politicians. Obama promised us all he'd be different. But, Rahm, Messina and the rest of the crew are turning him into just another politician who won't fight for what he believes and won't keep promises. That's what's ruining Obama's brand.
