Star-Ledger: President Obama must take charge of his agenda

[Bluebear]

First came the Pelosi Plan, an amalgam of the Miller Plan, the Rangel Plan and the Waxman Plan. And that was just in the House.

Then in the Senate came the Reid Plan, an agglomeration of the Dodd Plan, Harkin Plan and Baucus Plan, as amended by the Landrieu Plan, Lieberman Plan, Nelson Plan and a proliferation of others.

Now Democrats in Congress are scrambling to put together a Final Compromise Plan that can get enough votes to pass both houses.

Nowhere along the way did we see anything discernable as the Obama Plan...

Absent from the Obama construct of the presidency, it seems, is the president as director-in-chief, the chief executive model crafted by modern-era heavyweights such as Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan.

Present in its place is the Obama concept of the office: The president as facilitator-in-chief, a lighter throw-back model, reminiscent of the 19th century era of congressional dominance — and largely forgotten presidents.

Directors-in-chief are the Oval Office leaders who set the agenda, present concrete proposals, knock congressional heads, strike deals, and sign legislation that bears the presidential stamp. That was the modus operandi for Roosevelt’s Social Security and sweeping economic programs, Johnson’s Medicare and landmark civil rights laws, and Reagan’s tax cuts and major defense buildup.

Facilitators-in-chief are the White House occupants who follow an agenda of consensus, offer suggestions, mediate deals that are struck by the barons of power in Congress and sign legislation (if any emerges) that bears the barons’ stamp.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2010/01/president_obama_must_take_char.html

[whatchamacallit]

1. Yep (n/t)

[xchrom]

2. We'd have to back to pre-election Obama. Nt

[walldude]

3. He was elected to lead after all...

Leading would be a nice change of pace.