Political winds are funny things. When they are blowing in from behind, leaders look poised, in control, and powerful. When they are blowing into their face, they look overwhelmed, out of their depth, and utterly impotent. We have seen this time and again over the years with presidents.
Take Jimmy Carter. When he was a candidate for the presidency, he promised to return the office to the people, and bring about a moral revival. It helped him become the first person from the Deep South ever to win the White House, but he looked like a fool when the country was hit with 10 percent inflation. The “malaise” speech, followed by his request for all his Cabinet heads to submit their resignations, was actually classic Carter – he was asking the country to look carefully at itself and he would do the same with his administration. But it totally backfired, and he was mocked for seeming erratic.
Take George H.W. Bush. During the Gulf War, he looked like a supremely skillful world leader, successfully managing a broad international coalition to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. But a year later, when the full effects of the recession were being felt, those assets suddenly became liabilities. Sure, he was managing the post-Cold War international regime successfully, but he was out of touch with the average American.
How about Bill Clinton? The first part of his term was marred by scandals of the petty misdemeanor sort, which drove his approval rating into the mid-30s very quickly as the country limped through a weak recovery from the 1990-91 recession. In his second term, Clinton continued to behave in a sleazy way; and worse, his behavior with Monica Lewinsky ended up killing a deal to reform Social Security. However, the economy was finally humming along with 4 percent economic growth, so the public kept him because he was, in his words, “doing the work of the American people.”
How about George W. Bush? He campaigned in 2000 as a man of principle whose decisions would not be swayed by political considerations. This resoluteness helped him win reelection in 2004, but by the next year, as the Iraq War started to drift, the public suddenly came to see this same quality as stubbornness.
The point is that, when the wind is blowing in your face, it is really very difficult to look like you are in full control. More likely, the press will make a mountain out of every tiny molehill, and old assets will suddenly become liabilities.
Read more at The Weekly Standard
