[Professor S]

I think we're forgetting the will of the American people in all of this blaming of media, politics, etc.

The fact is more people are for tax cuts than they are for public health programs.

The fact is more people supported the Iraq war when it happened and the Patriot Act than believe in global warming (Cap and Trade).

The fact is Bush did what he did, regardless of whether or not you agree with it, and got reelected handily in 2004 well after the Iraq war started.

Bush's policies got approved because he was convincing in his arguments, for whatever reason you wish to attach. This isn't a statement of personal approval, it's a observation of fact.

The fact is that if Obama forced through policies with the amount of opposition he faces now, he would be rode out of office on a rail in 2012 (with possibly and attempt on his life before that, sadly), and the Dems would suffer a election holocaust in 2010, and all this work they're trying to do would be gleefully erased within 2 years. Obama isn't a wimp, he's pragmatic and he understands what he can and can't get away with if he wants to achieve his goals and make them stick.

President Obama needs to convince the American people that his ideas are the right ones. To date, he hasn't been able to do so, and that is a failure of leadership.