Obama’s Big Test

Barack Obama’s presidency is characterized by his well-known “coolness.” But is his behavior appropriate to the situation America is in?

America’s level-headed president hates nothing as much as cabals and intrigues. He’s not known as “No-Drama-Obama” for nothing. But suddenly, the Democratic Party has found itself stuck in the midst of a series of scandals, and America is beginning to ask whether Obama’s tactic of sobriety, his famous “coolness,” is really appropriate to the situation.

“What’s being tested here is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem,” Obama said this week at a meeting on health care reform. Obama’s tone was serious but calm, totally unexcited and almost non-dramatic in the face of the drama surrounding him.

Where does he find such composure? More bad news springs up around him almost daily. Despite the concessions on health care reform made by the Democratic leadership in Congress, he still has no majority. Unemployment figures are still high. The Iran clock stands at one minute to midnight.

And on top of all that, now a handful of big-name Democrats are up to their necks in scandalous affairs. Ironically, just eight months before the mid-term elections, right at a time when some voters are beginning to doubt whether Obama can really deliver on his promised political change, and others are wondering whether he is on the right path or perhaps has bitten off more than he can chew.

When Obama looks at his morning newspaper these days, three names jump out at him: David Paterson, Charles Rangel and Eric Massa. All of them are prominent Democrats and all three come from New York, up until now a secure Democratic bastion.

Paterson is still governor of the second most populous state (after California), having inherited the job in the wake of the prostitution scandal that toppled his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer. He’s now enmeshed in his own scandal. He is accused of putting pressure on a politically sensitive witness, who accused his close friend of harassment, physical assault and strangulation.

Paterson claims he only telephoned her in an attempt to get her side of the story, but she failed to appear in court the day after the telephone call, and the case was dismissed. Beyond that, Paterson is accused of pressuring an organizer to get him free tickets to a New York Yankees baseball game.

The second figure, Charles Rangel, is a New York Congressman. Rangel is one of the most prominent black politicians in the United States and was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee prior to his stepping down a few days ago. Charlie and Paterson’s father, Basil, belonged to the famous Harlem Gang of Four, active in promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

Rangel is accused of tax evasion in failing to report rent he received from a property in the Dominican Republic, along with other income totaling more than $500,000, on his income taxes.

Finally, Eric Massa, also a New York Congressman since the November 2008 elections, just announced his withdrawal from politics, supposedly on his doctor’s orders that he could no longer maintain his “100-mile-an-hour” activities. In truth, he does have medical problems, but they apparently did not prevent him from threatening a young female staff member. An ethics investigation resulted in him being charged with sexual harassment.

In addition to all this, the corruption trial of the former Democratic governor of Illinois is scheduled to begin in July. Seated with him in the dock will be the politics of Obama’s home city, Chicago.

It is “back to the future.” During the final years of the Bush administration, Republican scandals popped up one after the other and helped the Democrats achieve a majority in Congress. The victors promised a new era of “Mr. Clean,” but it quickly became apparent that many Democrats were also up to their necks in muck, as well. That is not really Obama’s fault, but up to now there have been no cries of outrage from the White House, either.

The president has to be damned careful to avoid being caught up in the public’s disdain for Washington politicians. Obama is still more popular than his policies, but can his vaunted “coolness” keep his personal popularity intact over the long haul?