Posted on May\u00a016,\u00a02013<\/h4>\n\n<\/p>\nBy Robert Reich<\/p>\n
This post originally ran on Robert Reich\u2019s Web page<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\nLess than six months into a second term and the Obama White House is on the defensive and floundering: Benghazi, the IRS\u2019s investigations of right-wing groups, the Justice Department\u2019s snooping into journalists\u2019 phone records, Obamacare behind schedule, the Administration\u2019s push for gun control ending in failure.<\/p>\n
Should the blame fall mainly on congressional Republicans and their allies in the right-wing media, whose vitriolic attacks on Obama are unceasing?<\/p>\n
After all, the only thing the GOP stands for \u2014 the sole mission that unites its warring factions \u2013 is an unwaivering determination to block anything the Administration seeks while distracting public attention from any larger issue.<\/p>\n
But surely some of the seeming disarray is due to the President, whose insularity and aloofness make him an easy target, and whose eagerness to compromise and lack of focus continuously blurs his core message.<\/p>\n
Is the central goal of his second term to achieve a grand bargain on the budget deficit? Or progress on gun control? Or restore jobs? Or reform the immigration laws? It is difficult to tell.<\/p>\n
Vulnerabilities come with any Administration\u2019s second term \u2013 when officials are exhausted, public support has worn thin, \u201cA\u201d teams have departed, the media are disenchanted, and all of the low-hanging fruit in a president\u2019s agenda has already been picked.<\/p>\n
I painfully recall Bill Clinton\u2019s second term (I left before Monica). George W. Bush\u2019s second term was marred by Iraq and a colossal failure on Social Security. Ronald Reagan\u2019s, by the Iran-Contra scandal. Even FDR got mired in a so-called \u201ccourt-packing\u201d scheme that lost him public and congressional support.<\/p>\n
Which is why it\u2019s so important for a second-term White House to define itself \u2013 to give the public a clear sense of what it stands for, and how it intends to tackle the largest challenges facing the nation. And then to work hard on this core agenda without becoming overly distracted by the inevitable fires that have to be extinguished along the way. <\/p>\n
Even if a president fails to achieve this larger objective, he will at least have established a predicate for the future, and given the public a larger goal around which to mobilize and organize. <\/p>\n
Barack Obama is allowing the fires to dominate because he has not defined his core agenda. During the 2012 campaign it appeared to be restoring jobs, rebuilding the middle class, and reversing the scourge of widening inequality. Since then, though, the core has evaporated \u2014 leaving him and his administration vulnerable to every pyromaniac on the Potomac.<\/p>\n
Robert B. Reich, chancellor\u2019s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective Cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including the best-sellers \u201cAftershock\u201d and \u201cThe Work of Nations.\u201d His latest, \u201cBeyond Outrage,\u201d<\/a> is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.<\/i>\n<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/images\/eartothegrounduploads\/8390033709_706a9872da_n.jpg\")
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White House\/Pete Souza <\/p>\n
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By Robert Reich<\/p>\n
This post originally ran on Robert Reich\u2019s Web page<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Less than six months into a second term and the Obama White House is on the defensive and floundering: Benghazi, the IRS\u2019s investigations of right-wing groups, the Justice Department\u2019s snooping into journalists\u2019 phone records, Obamacare behind schedule, the Administration\u2019s push for gun control ending in failure.<\/p>\n Should the blame fall mainly on congressional Republicans and their allies in the right-wing media, whose vitriolic attacks on Obama are unceasing?<\/p>\n After all, the only thing the GOP stands for \u2014 the sole mission that unites its warring factions \u2013 is an unwaivering determination to block anything the Administration seeks while distracting public attention from any larger issue.<\/p>\n But surely some of the seeming disarray is due to the President, whose insularity and aloofness make him an easy target, and whose eagerness to compromise and lack of focus continuously blurs his core message.<\/p>\n Is the central goal of his second term to achieve a grand bargain on the budget deficit? Or progress on gun control? Or restore jobs? Or reform the immigration laws? It is difficult to tell.<\/p>\n Vulnerabilities come with any Administration\u2019s second term \u2013 when officials are exhausted, public support has worn thin, \u201cA\u201d teams have departed, the media are disenchanted, and all of the low-hanging fruit in a president\u2019s agenda has already been picked.<\/p>\n I painfully recall Bill Clinton\u2019s second term (I left before Monica). George W. Bush\u2019s second term was marred by Iraq and a colossal failure on Social Security. Ronald Reagan\u2019s, by the Iran-Contra scandal. Even FDR got mired in a so-called \u201ccourt-packing\u201d scheme that lost him public and congressional support.<\/p>\n Which is why it\u2019s so important for a second-term White House to define itself \u2013 to give the public a clear sense of what it stands for, and how it intends to tackle the largest challenges facing the nation. And then to work hard on this core agenda without becoming overly distracted by the inevitable fires that have to be extinguished along the way. <\/p>\n Even if a president fails to achieve this larger objective, he will at least have established a predicate for the future, and given the public a larger goal around which to mobilize and organize. <\/p>\n Barack Obama is allowing the fires to dominate because he has not defined his core agenda. During the 2012 campaign it appeared to be restoring jobs, rebuilding the middle class, and reversing the scourge of widening inequality. Since then, though, the core has evaporated \u2014 leaving him and his administration vulnerable to every pyromaniac on the Potomac.<\/p>\n Robert B. Reich, chancellor\u2019s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective Cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including the best-sellers \u201cAftershock\u201d and \u201cThe Work of Nations.\u201d His latest, \u201cBeyond Outrage,\u201d<\/a> is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.<\/i>\n<\/p>\n White House\/Pete Souza <\/p>\n <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n