The Questions that Obama Needs to Ask Himself

I hope Obama reads this article from a person that voted for him if he seriously thinks he can retool for the next election. I'll try my hand at answering the questions that the author Walter Russell Mead poses.

Why has all the ‘get tough with Israel’ advice from Middle East ‘realists’ led him to one disaster after another?  

Getting tough with Israel can't look like you are tougher on them than the Palestinians are. Whoever the "Middle East Expert" was that told Obama that Israel can't build in East Jerusalem should be fired if he still around. They actually put a restriction on Israel that went beyond what the Palestinian negotiators wanted and it has damaged the whole process. These sort of unforced errors in reading the history of the region should never happen again. My advice to Obama is to forget the whole region until you get some real "Experts" on the payroll and then listen to them. Israel is not the bad guy and neither is an honestly negotiating Palestine so treat them that way.

Why has ‘split the difference’ strategy in Afghanistan worked so poorly?  

Pretty much because it was another half measure. If Obama is serious about winning in Afghanistan he will throw away any time-table and say they will be in it for the long term. That tells Karzai that the Americans might actually outlive his rule so he shouldn't cut a deal with Iran or the Taliban for "when the Americans leave." Some Obama arrogance by saying "we leave on our terms" might go a lot farther then we are out by 2011.

Why is it that every time he listens to environmentalists something politically bad happens?  

Obama needs to realize that environmentalists are horrible at crafting policy and leave it at that. Any environmentalist that talks about wind power and solar without talking about heavy nuclear is a dreamer and should not council Obama on these issues. Also green jobs needs to be fleshed out better because right now it is just airy nonsense. A Green Jobs Initiative that has concrete steps and a long term plan (that has nothing to do with Van Jones) will go a long way.

What are the three to five fixes he could make that would take the edge of the health care debate?  

First he needs to go through Obamacare with a hatchet and cut out things like the IRS requiring you to have health insurance on pain of a fine. Also he needs to get rid of the requirement that all small businesses file a form with the IRS whenever they have a transaction over $600. If they have to go through it page by page with a focus group to see what needs to be cut and why. If Obama can point out the bad things and get behind their repeal he would go a long way toward fixing the things about Obamacare that people hate.

Why is it that public service unions so consistently give advice that is bad for both his political health and the future of the country?  

He needs to realize that when other Americans can't find a job public worker unions getting paid and jacking up the bailouts rubs people the wrong way. If Obama froze federal payrolls (or rolled them back 5-10%)  and encouraged states to follow his example he would go a long way toward showing actual fiscal responsibility.

Why does he have so much trouble persuading the white working class that he is on their side?  

This one is really tough. He needs to stop talking down to working class whites by saying that they are too stupid or scared to follow what he is trying to tell them. Even though he might feel that in his heart he can make a show of not telling even a fully liberal audience how he really feels about the electorate. He needs to show actual empathy and respect when he sees someone hurting and not go into a long policy speech. The Ivory Tower pseudo-intellectual act lost him the independents but a new-found respect and an "I feel your pain" approach might get some of them back.  

Why don’t conciliatory gestures to foreign leaders and political currents lead to concrete negotiating concessions?

Well, because other nations are pursuing their interests his the same vigor that America pushes theirs. They want the best deal for their country and America loses out so be it. Obama also needs to stop attacking his allies and embracing his enemies. Being nice to Ahamadinajoke doesn't slow their nuclear program but helping dissident groups opposing him sure would. America needs to show the world that dissidents and people of conscious still matter to the Dems.

Why does his staff keep sending him to high profile, high stakes international negotiating events (Copenhagen I on the Olympics, Copenhagen II on climate, Seoul on Free Trade) without a winning script?  

This is simple. He needs to fire his negotiators because they have obviously done a poor job. This is just like how some football teams fire the offensive coordinator during the season when the offense doesn't produce. If they can't make a breakthrough and have a deal in hand then the President does not show. It is just that simple.

Why does all the advice from the legalistic Goody Two-Shoes community turn out to be unworkable (as on Guantanamo) or destructively unpopular (as on the question of trying KSM in Manhattan)?

Again fire Holder and bring in someone that isn't tone-deaf about these things. He had two years and Guantanamo hasn't been solved and KSM still hasn't been tried. The next guy has two years to do it right this time.