http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/010716-788622-obama-only-mistake-i-have-made-is-poor-salesmanship.htm?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=linkObama: My Only Mistake Is Poor Salesmanship
When President Obama was defending his ISIS strategy late last month — which has been pretty much universally derided as a failure — the only mistake he would admit to is that he hadn't spent more time talking about how successful it's been.
"I think that there is a legitimate criticism of what I've been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven't, you know, on a regular basis ... described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIS."
It was hardly the first time Obama has made such a claim. In fact, the Washington Free Beacon has gathered up eight clips of the president arguing that the only mistake he made was that he didn't do enough selling.
The failed stimulus? "It was very difficult for us to spend a lot of time doing victory laps and advertising exactly what we were doing."
The "keep your health plan" lie? "You know, we weren't as clear as we needed to be in terms of the changes that were taking place."
The Republicans' midterm election blowout? "We have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we are trying to do and why this is the right direction."
In other words, the only mistake Obama will admit to is one of style, not substance. It's kind of like the prospective employee who, when asked to describe his or her greatest weakness, responds by saying, "I don't spend enough time telling people how great I am at my job."
Who does Obama think he's kidding?
In his first term alone, Obama racked up more than 1,800 speeches, remarks and comments, according to CBS News' Mark Knoller . Of those, 699 involved the use of a teleprompter. That works out to one formal speech every two days. It's unlikely that any other president has talked to the public as much as Obama has.
Every initiative he's undertaken has come with a barrage of speeches, town halls and briefings, and the press has consistently let Obama set the agenda and get his message out more or less unfiltered. Just look at the current gun control debate.
Obama's attempt to deflect criticism by saying he hasn't talked enough about an issue is just another sign of Obama's absolute refusal to ever admit to making any mistakes. From a guy who came into office promising a "new era of responsibility," that's more than a minor character flaw.
