No matter what you think of President Barack Obama, there’s one thing most of us can agree on: He’s an excellent public speaker. As long as his appearances are heavily scripted and vetted, that is.
But for all of his education, chutzpah and calm demeanor, Obama could very well be one of the worst U.S. presidents in history when it comes to thinking on his feet. A recent slew of gaffes have highlighted this obvious weakness in his political arsenal. The most widely discussed blunder occurred last month on “The Tonight Show.”
Describing a 129-point game in the White House bowling alley to Jay Leno, Obama compared his skills to “like Special Olympics, or something.” This attempt at self-deprecating humor was widely criticized, and the president quickly apologized.
In January, Obama told senior GOP leaders, “We shouldn’t let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done” with respect to his economic stimulus plan. Unfortunately, he subsequently told a critic at that same meeting: “I won. I will trump you on that.”
Way to create a bipartisan atmosphere in Washington, Mr. President.
Meanwhile, at a February event in East Peoria, Ill., Obama mentioned that Caterpillar Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens said that “if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.”
It’s a nice statement, but there’s one problem: Owens actually wasn’t onside. After Obama left, the Caterpillar boss was recorded on video saying: “I think realistically no. The … honest reality is we probably have to have more layoffs before we start hiring again.”
Obama’s interview with The New York Times in March was another communications misstep. He stated the United States should explore “some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region” to reach out to Taliban moderates.
Last year, Obama foolishly proposed establishing relations with terrorist groups and rogue states. He got hammered by pundits, and his communications team had to clean up the mess. The president evidently doesn’t learn from past mistakes.
Here are some other Obama blunders:
During an April 2008 speech in San Francisco, he accused Middle America of being “bitter” and said that they “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
In a July 2008 CNN interview, Obama accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of having “not gotten out of the bunker and helped to organize Afghanistan … in ways that would give people confidence.”
At his first news conference in November 2008, the president-elect made this crack when he said he’d spoken to all living U.S. presidents, “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances.”
According to Sky News, the president read Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen’s speech — and thanked himself — on his teleprompter in March 2009. Cowen followed him to the podium, started repeating the same words, stopped and then said, “That’s your speech.”
I know what some readers must be thinking. “Give the guy a break! Obama’s been in office for less than 100 days. And Reagan, Carter, Clinton and the Bushes made their share of blunders.” That’s true. But there’s a very troubling pattern when it comes to Obama. He doesn’t give a lot of thought to his unscripted responses. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He lashes out at inopportune moments. He’s a frequent communications nightmare.
This character trait could potentially cause some real damage, both domestically and internationally. If you’re not already worried about this, you should be.
Michael Taube is a public affairs analyst, commentator and columnist in Canada. He can be reached at [email protected].
