RICHARD DAVIS: Without confidence, Americans wary of policy initiatives

RICHARD S. DAVIS RICHARD S. DAVIS
Last updated: August 26th, 2009 09:10 AM (PDT)

Progressives rankle at the Obama administration’s inability to pass their agenda. “Hope and change” confronts “checks and balances” with dismay. The clash has implications for state and local policymakers tempted to pick up the fallen batons.

It was all supposed to be easier than this. For a moment, it was. Congress swiftly moved toward nationalization of huge chunks of the auto and banking industries. Then things began to sputter. Breathtakingly complex and costly climate change regulation foundered. Health care reform reels like an outclassed boxer staggering into the 12th round on wobbly legs. And, while cash for clunkers enjoyed the brief and costly popularity of any something-for-nothing deal, it’s now spent and second-guessed.

The president, accustomed to opposition from the right, now faces intense criticism from left and the loss of the center.

The keepers of the liberal flame at The New York Times are in full fret. Paul Krugman writes that “progressives are in revolt.” Frank Rich fears Obama is “just another corporatist, punking voters.”

Robert Reich, secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, says he doesn’t get it. “We have a Democratic president in the White House. Democrats control 60 votes in the Senate . . . Democrats control the House.” Yet, he complains, they can’t get health care through.

The president’s progressive critics mistake an election for a coronation. Mandates follow elections built on foundational messages, something more concrete than the gauzy promise of a break with the past. Presidential elections come not with puffs of white smoke and the mantle of infallibility. Dissonance and discord soon replace the Inauguration Day harmonies.

The president remained aloof from his own agenda, allowing Congress to overreach. The public pushed back. Rasmussen Reports survey of likely voters last week finds just 28 percent of likely voters “strongly approve” of his performance, while 40 percent “strongly disapprove.”

For a president whose personal approval ratings always exceed the popularity of his policies, the erosion represents a stiff setback, undercutting any thought of an effective charisma offensive. The polls reveal predictable polarization: Republicans disapprove strongly, Democrats approve. The center increasingly tilts right.

As Americans lose confidence in this administration, support for its policy initiatives ebbs. Conservative opposition has been constant and understandable.

The Tea Parties grew out of a natural base of resistance to taxes, deficits, and big government. But the newly disillusioned, the independents who often determine electoral victory, pose a different challenge and cannot be lightly dismissed.

Where independents initially gave the president overwhelming positive ratings, these critical voters now split evenly between approval and disapproval. These voters, who embraced the president’s vision and promise, have much less use for the more transformational elements of his agenda. Without their support, the program fails.

As the president and Congressional leaders have ventured into virtually every area of American life – health care, education, industrial policy, finance – the national debate both overshadows and shapes state and local politics. Their aggressive intervention raises the stakes for policymakers in our state.

This month’s town halls gave constituents a chance to speak out. Economic recovery remains voters’ top priority. They want to know that lawmakers share their concern. Proceed with caution, they say, much is at risk. Don’t gamble with our futures.

They are properly skeptical of untested policies with high costs and uncertain benefits. Those concerns won’t be forgotten when lawmakers return in January to think about health care reform, climate change, and another budget shortfall. Already, the state’s largest city has rejected a 20-cent tax on plastic bags and sent packing the nationally-prominent green mayor who fumbled local issues.

Unemployment – the only economic indicator voters believe in – remains high. Many economists believe it will go higher. Most of us have an out-of-work family member or friend. We’ve seen colleagues pink-slipped. Their anxiety becomes ours.

In unsettled times, we don’t see a crisis “too good to waste” as an opportunity to impose an unpopular, unproven and economically damaging policy agenda. Rather, we look for steady, confident and consistent leadership from our lawmakers. In the months ahead, perhaps we’ll find it.

Bainbridge Island resident Richard S. Davis writes on public policy, economics and politics. He is a guest blogger on the Inside the Editorial Page blog at blogs.thenewstribune.com/oped. His e-mail address is richardsdavis@gmail.com.

Originally published: August 26th, 2009 12:16 AM (PDT)