Norm Ornstein: The Myth of Presidential Leadership

[flpoljunkie]

The Myth of Presidential Leadership
Many Washington pundits are critical of the president’s ability to wrangle concessions out of Congress, but they forget that his power has limits.

This article appeared in print as Is Obama Failing to Lead?

By Norm Ornstein
Updated: May 9, 2013
May 8, 2013

The theme of presidential leadership is a venerated one in America, the subject of many biographies and an enduring mythology about great figures rising to the occasion. The term “mythology” doesn’t mean that the stories are inaccurate; Lincoln, the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie, conveyed a real sense of that president’s remarkable character and drive, as well as his ability to shape important events. Every president is compared to the Lincoln leadership standard and to those set by other presidents, and the first 100 days of every term becomes a measure of how a president is doing.

I have been struck by this phenomenon a lot recently, because at nearly every speech I give, someone asks about President Obama’s failure to lead. Of course, that question has been driven largely by the media, perhaps most by Bob Woodward. When Woodward speaks, Washington listens, and he has pushed the idea that Obama has failed in his fundamental leadership task—not building relationships with key congressional leaders the way Bill Clinton did, and not “working his will” the way LBJ or Ronald Reagan did.

Now, after the failure to get the background-check bill through the Senate, other reporters and columnists have picked up on the same theme, and I have grown increasingly frustrated with how the mythology of leadership has been spread in recent weeks. I have yelled at the television set, “Didn’t any of you ever read Richard Neustadt’s classic Presidential Leadership? Haven’t any of you taken Politics 101 and read about the limits of presidential power in a separation-of-powers system?”

But the issue goes beyond that, to a willful ignorance of history. No one schmoozed more or better with legislators in both parties than Clinton. How many Republican votes did it get him on his signature initial priority, an economic plan? Zero in both houses. And it took eight months to get enough Democrats to limp over the finish line. How did things work out on his health care plan? How about his impeachment in the House?

More...

http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/the-myth-of-presidential-leadership-20130508

[tridim]

1. Lots of DU'ers need to read this. Thanks for posting. nt

[flpoljunkie]

2. Yes. Well worth reading in its entirety.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. Bookmarked and HIGHLY recommended for DU and anyone who laments the fact that Obama

is not LBJ or FDR!!

Excellent!!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. ETA: They don't forget that the president has limited powers. They are WILLFULLY ignorant!

Their anger and/or ODS get in the way.

[zipplewrath]

5. Good points

But it does end with the:

"All this is not to say that leadership is meaningless and the situation hopeless. Obama has failed to use the bully pulpit as effectively as he could, not to change votes but to help define the agenda, while his adversaries have often—on health care, the economy, stimulus, and other issues—defined it instead."

His constant desire to reach out or otherwise find an accomodation with the GOP has done nothing for him and has cost much in the way of democratic goals. He passed alot of GOP inspired/proposed features in his ACA and it got him very few GOP votes at all. He has supported DINO after DINO in primaries, and they tend to lose elections.

He worked so closely with the Blue Dogs, conservative dems, and moderate GOP members that at this point it is clear that in fact they more closely represent his goals than anyone else. Even he himself suggested that not long ago he'd be considered a moderate republican.

The reality is that one can either presume he is leading badly, or he is leading excellently, and getting much of what he wants. The article suggest something of the former (or at least that leading is impossible). That is a relatively unchariatable point of view and the more respectful assumption is that he is accomplishing much of what he wants.

[Hippo_Tron]

6. Pete Rouse very likely knows congress almost as well as LBJ did

So it's not as though Obama doesn't have someone to advise him on what carrots and sticks to use with what congressmen and senators.

I think his biggest mistake has been to not harshly criticize House Republicans the way that Harry Truman criticized the Do Nothing Congress.

[DFW]

8. I know Pete slightly, and trust his judgement

He is at Obama's right hand, and Obama trusts him, too. If Pete suggests Obama be more forceful in public, chances are he will be. Pete knows the ropes of the Senate as well as anybody, including Reid and McConnell. If Pete advises him to tread lightly, chances are it's because Pete knows one very good reason why he should.

[forestpath]

7. Obama is leading all right. He's leading the Democratic party to its destruction

by not fighting for workers, the middle class, the environment, and civil rights.

In order to schmooze Republicans about any of those things, you have to believe in standing up for them. So far, I have seen very little evidence that President Obama has the slightest intention of doing that.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

10. Yeah, that's right! Obama is BAD!! BAD!! BAD!!!!!!!

[DFW]

9. Norm is one of the smartest guys in DC

He has managed to stake out a middle ground in a town where the very notion is just about dead.

His observations are usually made from a neutral standpoint, and are all the more valid for it.

He is also one of the funniest guys you could ever meet, if you ever get the chance. You'll never hear him joke on the radio or in one of these essays, but there's not much to laugh about in DC these days. Get him off the record when the microphones are turned off, and you're in for a treat.

[Doctor_J]

11. and norm completely missed the point

It bothers me very little that no legislation is passing. It bothers me a great deal that Obama continues to pander to the republicans, and continues to propose right wing solutions to problems. Idiotic, nonsensical tripe.