Assessment

Frank Rich writes in today's Times that all this talk about Obama doing badly is wrong.  He says that Obama has held steady and let the Washington and TV pundit's blather about how many mistakes he's made wash over him.  Just like he did during the campaign.

I hope Rich is right.  I have to admit that I've bought into the notion that he's off track.  I've been upset because:

1.  His commitment to bipartisanship has been a bust.

2.  He let the Republicans put too many tax cuts in the stimulus bill.

3.  He hasn't repudiated Bush on extraordinary rendition but has equivocated on getting rid of it.

4.  He hasn't repudiated Bush on warrantless wiretapping but in fact has argued for a continuation of the Bush policy in court.

5.  He told us Geitner would have the mother of all bank bailout speeches and it didn't happen.

6.  Asking Judd Gregg to be Commerce Secretary made no sense.

7.  The Tom Daschle fiasco was a mistake and was handled badly.

8.  He's spent too much time  praying in public.

Yes, I know some good things have happened - on the environment, on education spending, on relations with the Muslim world, on energy, and more.  But after all these years of being angry and frustrated I want everything that should happen and was promised to happen now.

Like I said, I hope Frank Rich is right.