Freedom Line Blog

…means being the life of a party you host.  RealClearPolitics’ Jay Cost gives a great analysis on just how shallow is this chief executive’s understanding of his job.

By virtue of his omnipresence, this President has given new meaning to the phrase “big government.” He is everywhere. Try as you might, you cannot escape him. Mr. Obama has expanded the concept of the bully pulpit in ways we have never before seen. It is worth asking: in a country founded on the idea of limited government, is it good to have a President who appears to see no limits to what he can involve himself in?

Some of this must be political strategy. Barack Obama is the first President in American history who is primarily after the same precious 18-to-35 year olds that Madison Avenue covets. He won about 2/3rds of this age group in the 2008 election, and he needs them to vote Democrat this November. Talking sports and culture and “kicking ass” is a way to stay in touch with them. I half expect him to start driving around in a Scion xB.

But some of this must be narcissism. This is, after all, the President who got up on stage to sing “Hey Jude” with Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Jerry Seinfeld. There is no electoral utility to this sort of spectacle. Obama clearly enjoys the attention that comes with being a super cool Commander in Chief.

But only, it seems, when it results at a time and place of his choosing.  Makeshift ballrooms on government property are fine, but Louisiana beaches or Florida straits streaked with oil?  Eh.