HCAN's former Communications Director, Jacki Schechner, on Obama and 'shattered expectations.'

[Bluebear]

by Jacki Schechner

I'm paraphrasing here, but a wise boss of mine used to say the way to lead was to "energize the base and inspire the middle," and instead, President Obama has been "alienating the base and confusing the middle."

I disagree with a lot of how the now well-read Hill write is framed, but I do understand the frustration many feel when it comes to the President's performance so far. He ran on this incredibly inspirational platform of hope and change. There was a real sense that Obama could be the guy to stop business as usual in Washington and redeem government. I know I'm not alone in believing he recognized the time had come to remind lawmakers whom they worked for - the people - and remind the people that government could be on their side.

However, it's been almost 2 years, and no one feels that way.

What permeates is the sense that the President has compromised his alleged values and backtracked on his campaign promises in a way that jaded insiders would say was to be expected but the general population hoped wasn't the case. We wanted to believe. We really did. I know I did....

http://www.americablog.com/2010/08/shattered-expectations-my-2-cents.html?utm_medium=bt.io-twitter&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=backtype-tweetcount

[Bluebear]

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