Ugh, 2014 Politics

After the last few elections, I've a feeling lots of people are going to tune next year's midterms out completely.  Those that faithfully vote will continue to (so Republicans will likely do better), but I can't imagine anyone is particularly excited about the prospect.  So I barely skimmed Charlie Cook's piece, but this is kind of key to Democrat frustration:

Add to that growing concern over the Affordable Care Act, with only a third of Americans telling pollsters that it will help the nation’s health care situation, and less than a quarter who believe that it will help their own family’s health care. 

It was a crappy, Republican health care plan.  Republicans should be happy about it, but since it was passed by the socialist Kenyan Muslim, fat fucking chance.  Democrats have tried to be happy about it, but when the only possible liberal/Democratic aspect was killed by the douche from MA it became pretty hard to be honestly enthusiastic.  If they had kept the public option, or just allowed anyone to buy into Medicare on the exchanges, then there would have both excited Democrats and would have been something to point out to all the other constituents who pretty much won't have anything change.

As for the ineffective leadership stuff: maybe, but I think the root of that problem was Obama was not the right person for this job.  He would have been at home in the 80's and maybe the 90's, but all the grand bargain, compromise bullshit just doesn't work with today's Republicans.  On top of that, the creeping Bush-era government surveillance system and perpetual war on terror don't give anyone other than Dick Cheney warm fuzzies.  So it isn't just that Obama is an ineffective leader--there may not have been any way to be otherwise with the Senate rules what they are--it is that the things he actually does are very much at odds with the way that he has been perceived on them and even the way that he talks about them.