Obama's Heart to Hart

I'm not a Christine O'Donnell fan. I remember watching Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in the late 1990s and thinking, "She's crazy." Not that a roundtable discussion involving Martin Mull and the chick from "A Different World" is sane to begin with, but I reacted with appropriate horror when I realized who it was that defeated Mike Castle. But the more I think of it, witchcraft might not be so bad after all, comparatively speaking.

Which is why Velma Hart's "exhausted" comment to the president struck such a chord, not just for its poignant criticism, but for the realization by Hart and other supporters that "Hope and Change" was always smoke and mirrors. Obama was an empty vessel during the campaign, a fact successfully hidden by charisma, financial panic and a need to break with an unpopular incumbent. Actual policy prescriptions? Not needed when Germany turns out by the thousands at the Brandenburg Gate (getting the Krauts to like us was apparently achievement enough).

After initially misreading Hart–thinking she was referring to defending him from so many unreasonable opponents–and laughing, he quickly recovered and attempted to tick off a number of policy achievements, none of which amounted to anything. Even though Hart seemed to criticize Obama from the left, as a CFO she realized everything he listed would make her financial situation worse, not better, a point Obama himself (through his "shared sacrifice" theme) has made before. Supporters projected their wants, needs and fears on Obama, and what he would do about them, without ever researching his platform to see if it was true. A blank slate is what they elected. A blank stare–evident from the Town Hall video–is what they got back.