Well, if you want to know the story behind the latest news on Obama's spending freeze, it's a hail Mary to the independents.
Case in point was a letter posted on Real Clear Politics yesterday that summed up the mood Pres. Obama is facing at the State of the Union on Wednesday, but also in the 2010 mid-terms.
I am a registered Independent. I voted for Barack Obama. And for that, I am sorry.
[....] Before John McCain unwittingly picked a tabloid-magazine cover girl for his running mate, I was leaning toward going Republican this time around. I did the second time Bush was on the ballot and I very nearly did the first time, too. But as soon as Palin climbed out of her igloo and onto the national scene, well, there was no turning back for me.
You see, I felt my choice was to risk McCain dropping dead and letting the world's most well-known hockey mom run this country, or to believe that Obama would surround himself with educated people and that he was smart enough to take their advice.
I was right. He is smart enough to seek counsel. I'm just outraged at the counsel he's seeking these days. Key financial leaders who are tax cheats come immediately to mind, but as the recent terror attack made clear to me, the idea that a president of the most powerful nation in the world could think it was OK to have a Homeland Security chief with such a loose grasp of what terrorism is and how it works is troubling.
Robert Gibbs revealed another problem with Obama and the White House team in a conversation with Ed Schultz.
SCHULTZ: I told him he was full of sh*t is what I told him. ... And then he gave me the Dick Cheney f-bomb. ... I told Robert Gibbs, I said "And I'm sorry you're swearing at me, but I'm just trying to help you out. I'm telling you you're losing your base. Do you understand you're losing your base?"
Now Obama is taking on his base, which will likely get raves from the Morning Joe crowd, who'll fall for this, no doubt, without knowing they're being played.
There is not one voter out there who doesn't remember how Barack Obama came into office and the good will he enjoyed from all quarters. He was going to be different. That's been turned on its head.
As for independents, it's going to take more than cheerleading politics to get them back, because fool me once shame on you... People were once willing to believe and join in a leap of faith. This isn't 2008 anymore.
Now comes a spending freeze, not to include national security items, of course, the ultimate cynical ploy to appease independents, while throwing a life line to the Blue Dogs.
What it does long-term to the economy is not Obama's problem. He won't be around when it hits the fan.
Taylor Marsh is a political analyst, with podcasts available on iTunes.