A Presidency Without Context

By most measures President Obama has been remarkably successful – he has shepherded critical legislation to reform health care (something no one else has been able to do in nearly 100 years of trying), financial reform, workforce protections, and more. He has stabilized an economy on the brink of collapse, has repaired relationships with allies, and has begun to tackle the federal deficit. Yet, as countless observers have noted, the President’s public approval ratings do not reflect these successes. On a day when the President should have been taking a victory lap for passing legislation reforming the financial industry the press focused on the firing (and subsequent un-firing) of a U.S. Department of Agriculture official.

Earlier this week I was a guest on The Alyona Show on the RT network talking about why there is an apparent gap between President Obama’s legislative successes and the public’s perception of his presidency.

As bears of little brains we have a view of how the world works, and when we encounter new information we drop it into an existing explanation. If we see or hear something new that does not come with its own explanation, we construct an explanation for it. If someone hands us a new object we’ve never seen and says “this is a toy” we’ll play with it; if we’re handed the object without explanation we’ll decide what it is – a toy, a tool, sculpture – and treat is as such, playing with, banging with it, or dusting it, depending on what we decide it is.

The President has failed to construct an explanation for his presidency. He has not told us what the overarching theme, or point, of his actions is. As such, we are left to decide for ourselves. Absent and explanation, we come up with our own. Those who disagree with the President also provide explanations, they tell us the context or meaning of events. Those who think that government is too large point to health care reform and financial industry reform as evidence of their positions. Those who think the President is afraid of issues of race point to the USDA dust-up as proof of their wisdom. Those who think that Fox News is a tool of the political right point to reactions to the President and his policies and say “I told you so.” Without a narrative or context in which to put Presidential action we are left to our own devices or the devices of others. This is not redounding to the President’s advantage.

To regain his rhetorical footing the President needs to articulate a vision or value and use his legislative victories (and stumbles) as evidence of this vision.