Posted 7:18 PM by steve

I have to say I goofed in thinking that Obama and his media allies would have started talking up the economy as soon as he took office. Having blamed Bush for just about everything and positioning McCain as offering nothing other than 'more of the same failed thinking', what better way to show the voters that they were right to have voted for Obama than to start using all the tools at their respective disposal (bully pulpit for him, print space and airtime for them) to push the theme that the economy was turning around and getting better?

And, per the cliche "first impressions are lasting impressions', the last thing Obama would want is for people to start thinking of his presidency as consisting of bad times, ala Jimmy Carter.

So I figured that Obama would start emphasizing the positives out there and promising voters a rosy future.

I never figured he would instead be badmouthing the economy (and even after he got his stimulus bill enacted)... and I never figured that the Dow would be down some 2,000 points since he won election.

I know Obama doesn't have experience running anything other than his campaigns, and more importantly, he's never run anything that was in trouble. If he had, he would know that the absolute last thing a leader can do is project negativity. Acknowledge tough times, sure, but every speech, every talk needs to end on a positive note. Leaders sell the idea that they will not only survive the problems they are facing, they will emerge even stronger.

For good or bad, people look to the President for inspiration. And right now, they're not getting any... at least not of the positive variety.