Chris Christie Asks, Answers Own Question
In recent months, an anti-Obama meme has gotten surprising traction on both sides of the political aisle. The meme goes that Obama “cant/won’t lead” or that he “leads from behind,” that failure of Congress to accomplish anything substantial since the passage of the Affordable Care Act has been due to Obama’s refusal to “twist arms” or “bust skulls.” The meme takes different forms, with the Right declaring his lack of leadership the reason why nothing has changed, while the Left declares it the reason why his more liberal campaign promises (closing Gitmo, ending the wars, passing single-payer, etc) haven’t come to pass or been watered down.
And on Monday, Chris Christie, who is still on the short list of “draft” campaigns that are going on in lack of viable GOP candidates, opined on Obama’s lack of leadership:
Notice what he says:
And in New Jersey, the reason why they got things done is because I called people into a room and said we’re going to solve this problem and I had people of good will on the other side who said they believed it was their obligation, regardless of party, to get done things like pension and benefit reform.
And this is really the crux of why calls for “leadership” from Obama are asinine, as they fly in the face of political reality. Honestly, what “people of good will” in the GOP ranks can Obama reach out to?
John Boehner, who walked out on debt ceiling negotiations with Obama and declared that the supercommittee could not consider new/higher taxes to tackle deficits?
Eric Cantor, who also walked out on negotiations with Obama and stated to fellow Republicans that there will be no compromises on tax increases?
Mitch McConnell, who famously declared that the single most important thing to his party was to see Obama a one-term president?
Jon Kyl, a man who some are calling the saboteur of the supercommittee, who declared after only a single meeting of it that he’d leave if further defense cuts were proposed?
The reality is that there are no “people of good will” within the GOP ranks, certainly none that could overturn the lunacy that has become party policy since 2008. How are we to expect a president to lead when the other party’s only mission is to see him fail? When the opposition sneers at “bipartisanship” and views “compromise” as a four-letter word? That some find that the fault for the GOP’s single-minded mission to eject Obama from the White House lies with him is insanity.