Every elected official wants to be popular. That’s a given. But the truth is that there are worst things than being unpopular. Like being thought of as inconsequential. Even if a majority of the electorate doesn’t like you, it’s probably the case that a minority does. Those folks will turn out for you, rally around you, and defend you to critics.
Yet an inconsequential figure might not engender that kind of loyalty. Even those who support his policies aren’t inclined to give him credit for accomplishing anything. For the most part, they’ll react with ambivalence. And who can fault them? After all, the electorate has been conditioned to believe that everything is out of this person’s hands. The good as well as the bad is all the doing of some larger force over which the elected official has absolutely no control whatsoever.
In this case, as long as President Obama keeps repeating — for what he perceives to be short-term political benefit — the mantra that the weak economy, the budget deficit, America’s damaged reputation abroad, the state of the environment, etc., are all the fault of the former president, Americans can be forgiven for not being passionate about the current one.
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