The President, On Message

Thank goodness the President is finally on message. His more populist tone, I am convinced, is the single best thing he could do right now to get people on board to see the Democratic agenda through.

A mix of commentators have concluded that the Massachusetts senate election was, wasn't, or was sorta kinda a referendum on Obama. But it seems to me that what's abundantly clear is that a lack of leadership from the West Wing in health care reform has left Americans with little to go on except assurances like "don't worry, we'll act in your best interest" while hearing about record deficits, record unemployment, and even more "record" spending coming through the pipeline. Inconsistent and half-baked messaging has been a huge hindrance to getting the Obama Adminstration's message through. But an even more serious problem has been that the agenda itself is still forming. As other people wiser and better connected than I have noted, the President has hesitated in stipulating key features of reform that would be deal-breakers for him.

I'm willing to entertain the idea that things would not have been so bad several fluke disasters not come to pass. Who's to say that the timing of the Senate's reform bill was to come so close to the Massachusetts special election, or that the House and Senate bills would not be able to be reconciled and therefore have their features clearly defined and publicly presented before Coakley and Brown went on the ballot. But letting the president entirely off the hook would be like arguing that the president shouldn't expect political trouble left and right, particularly with lots of fair warning over the summer as the GOP tried left and right to stop his agenda in its tracks.

Fortunately, the President's rhetoric is coming around to match political reality. This is what several "in the know" people have always said about him, that he's a pragmatic progressive. In this instance he is a laggard and has fortunately come around to seeing that getting things done is more important than professing to be transformative.

Show us results, Mr. President. Prove to people that you're listening without them without having to make you listen. Be lofty in your goals and candid when you tell us what reform means in day-to-day terms for average people.