This is all changing six weeks before the election. While the MSM is still not interested in hammering home the picture of an administration reeling from one failed policy and faint hope to the next as it drifts inexorably toward a war with Iran it seems unwilling to fight and powerless to avert, the mainstream narrative has shifted decisively away from the old picture of cool-headed competence restoring order and promoting freedom and building peace. The turbulence in the region is impossible to miss, the problems for American interests and even security are disturbing to contemplate, and the failures of the Obama administration can no longer be ignored…

In his first term, the President tried to make terrorism go away by a combination of whack-a-mole drone strikes and a hearts and minds offensive. Both initiatives had some successes, but overall both fell short of their goals. There are more moles to whack now than in 2009 and the anti-American atmosphere in the region is as explosive as ever. Obama’s biggest immediate problem is that the MSM is starting to notice.

Right up until September 11, 2012, President Obama benefited hugely from a largely friendly press that rarely asked the toughest questions about his Middle East policy. In a second term he will face a much more skeptical MSM.