KVNUFTP

As President Obama approaches his first fifty-days in office, there are some interesting stirrings taking place within the uneasy ranks of the Left. From Warren Buffet to Jim Cramer, from The San Francisco Chronicle to The New York Times, and even Paul Krugman, it seems that there is mounting criticism of Obama from the most unlikely candidates.  Unfortunately, Republicans seem too disorganized take advantage of the gradual shift, but such revelations can only help their plight.

I was surprised to read this article by Howard Fineman in Newsweek, which hints towards a “turning tide” in support for President Obama.

From Newsweek:

Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he’s in one. The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics, but perhaps not now, not in a once-in-a-century economic crisis.

Swimming in the middle, he’s denounced as a socialist by conservatives, criticized as a polite accommodationist by government-is-the-answer liberals, and increasingly, dismissed as being in over his head by technocrats.

Luckily for Obama, the public still likes and trusts him, at least judging by the latest polls, including NEWSWEEK‘s. But, in ways both large and small, what’s left of the American establishment is taking his measure and, with surprising swiftness, they are finding him lacking.

They have some reasons to be concerned. I trace them to a central trait of the president’s character: he’s not really an in-your-face guy. By recent standards—and that includes Bill Clinton as well as George Bush—Obama for the most part is seeking to govern from the left, looking to solidify and rely on his own party more than woo Republicans. And yet he is by temperament judicious, even judicial. He’d have made a fine judge. But we don’t need a judge. We need a blunt-spoken coach.

Obama may be mistaking motion for progress, calling signals for a game plan. A busy, industrious overachiever, he likes to check off boxes on a long to-do list. A genial, amenable guy, he likes to appeal to every constituency, or at least not write off any. A beau ideal of Harvard Law, he can’t wait to tackle extra-credit answers on the exam.

But there is only one question on this great test of American fate: can he lead us away from plunging into another Depression?

In the same article, Fineman lists a number of issues which have “bigs” on both sides frustrated with the President… concerns which I believe will eventually “trickle down” into the mainstream. But Fineman’s careful description is hardly the tip-of-the-iceberg when it comes to the criticism of Obama.

President Obama has invited criticism from left-leaning organizations and watchdog groups for his hypocritical behavior towards earmarks, appointing individuals to his cabinet with embarrassing tax problems and who clearly have lobbying ties, and of course his “first broken campaign promise” of allowing a five-day period of public review before signing legislation (“Sunlight before Signing“), not to mention, the Obama Administration’s detentions at Bagram and use of infamous “state secrets” tactic.

But nothing has been quite s0 outrageous to some, as the Obama Administration’s handling of economic policy.

Obama’s campaign promise to “carefully review” earmarks and cut “wasteful spending” has left a bad taste in the mouths of many, including lawmakers from his own party (i.e. Sen. Feingold)

Paul Krugman (a firm ally of the Obama Administration in the past), recently published an op-ed titled, “The Big Dither,” in which he slams the President for “dithering” in dealing with failing banks.

According to Krugman:

“among people I talk to there’s a growing sense of frustration, even panic, over Obama’s failure to match his words with deeds.

The reality is that when it comes to dealing with the banks, the Obama administration is dithering. Policy is stuck in a holding pattern.”

And just a couple of days ago, Obama-supporter Warren Buffet had some scathing criticism to levy against the omnibus bill, the President’s opportunistic perspective of the economic crisis, and even offered some support to Republicans.

From Slate (Warren Buffet):

And you can’t expect people to unite behind you if you’re trying to jam a whole bunch of things down their throat. So I would–I would absolutely say for the–for the interim, till we get this one solved, I would not be pushing a lot of things that are–you know are contentious, and I also–I also would do no finger-pointing whatsoever.

Now, just rephrase that and since it’s, in my view, it’s an economic war, and–I don’t think anybody on December 7th would have said a `war is a terrible thing to waste, and therefore we’re going to try and ram through a whole bunch of things and–but we expect to–expect the other party to unite behind us on the–on the big problem.’ It’s just a mistake, I think, when you’ve got one overriding objective, to try and muddle it up with a bunch of other things.

It seems that Obama has been feeling the heat himself, and in what is becoming predictable behavior is responding personally to much of the criticism and doubt expressed. He took the bait with Rush Limbaugh. He decided to respond to Jim Cramer’s critique of his economic plans (fyi- Jim Cramer is a Democrat and voted for Obama, not a Republican, as some have attempted to indicate), and just this week, Obama decided to personally clarify his position on the question whether he was a socialist.

And interestingly enough, the question didn’t come from some conservative nut-job, instead, the question was asked by a reporter from The New York Times.

We have watched the “Obamacans” start to retreat from the Obama camp, we have even seen Barton Biggs, Warren Buffet, Jim Cramer, and Jack Welch express their own frustrations over the Administration’s handling of the US economy. And yet despite the “big-wigs,” Obama’s approval ratings remain relatively high among mainstream Americans. Nevertheless, what I see is growing discontentment on the Right and the Left, and Obama in the middle of it all. I don’t see anything “rosy” on the horizon unless this economy gets moving once again, but until then, Obama risks attacks from all sides, especially from those who feel that his economic policies are ineffective.

Of course there are those who will disregard the criticism of Buffet and Cramer, for they aren’t spokesmen for the American people. Nevertheless, such words of admonition from such individuals definitely surprised me.

Is there a storm brewing on the Left? Or is this just more conservative nonsense coming from yours truly? I see some dangerous signs on the horizon, and I wouldn’t want to trade places with Obama for the world.

- Marc