Democrats were giddy after last November's elections, and seemingly for good reason. President Obama had won an historic victory, and Democrats enjoyed overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate.
Democrat strategist James Carville wrote a book in which he argued that his party would maintain majority status for 40 years. Adding to the chorus, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned his fellow Republicans that the GOP was in danger of becoming a regional party.
But even the most popular political figures eventually come back down to earth — especially when they are wrong on the issues. Despite the never-ending lovefest between President Obama and the media, polls show his popularity is sinking faster than that wounded duck he threw for the ceremonial first pitch at baseball's All-Star Game.
According to Rasmussen Reports, as of July 26, more likely voters disapprove of Obama's handling of the presidency than approve of it, by a count of 50 to 49 percent. Meanwhile, while only 29 percent of likely voters strongly approve of his performance, 40 percent strongly disapprove. And why wouldn't they? Despite enjoying a nearly filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a heavy majority in the House, all Obama has managed to pass is an $800 billion grab bag of a stimulus package.
That package has helped lead to a $1.7 trillion deficit, a figure unprecedented in U.S. history. Yet, according to Rasmussen, only 25 percent of likely voters believe it helped the economy, while 31 percent say it hurt it. Meanwhile, according to a Gallup poll, a majority of Americans don't believe he will be able to meet his stated goal of cutting the deficit in half in four years — to $850 billion.
Meanwhile, Obama's efforts to remake health care in government's image and to tax productivity in the name of fighting global warming have yet to get real traction.
The disconnect between Obama's positions and his popularity can be explained more by his personal charisma than his performance. I admit that he's a likable guy, but Americans eventually will expect results, and if Obama's liberal policies don't deliver them, James Carville can say goodbye to his 40-year majority.
Their mask has been removed," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told members of Iran's judiciary on June 27. Yes, it has.
Ahmadinejad was referring to President Barack Obama's recent criticism of his government's dictatorial actions. But it would have been far more accurate if he had been talking about his own morally bankrupt administration and the ruling religious clerics who control it.
Yes, the mask — and it's been a thin one — has been removed from a regime that pretends to be a democracy and then rigs elections. It's been removed from a government that rules by fear and intimidation. It's been removed from a theocracy that claims God's favor and then murders its people when they protest.
Ahmadinejad has always been a crazy-eyed thug whose threats against Israel and denial of the Holocaust called into question, at least, his judgment and perhaps his sanity. His government exports terrorism and seeks a nuclear arsenal whose existence would be frightening to imagine.
Now, not even the rosiest of rose-colored glasses could hide the fact that he is part of an illegitimate autocracy that squelches dissent and then clumsily tries to cover its tracks by expelling and even detaining foreign journalists. The authority Ahmadinejad and his ruling clerics exercise comes from the barrel of a gun, not by the will of the Iranian people.
Obama came into office with a televised appeal to Iranians and their leaders in which he called for a "new beginning" and for a future "where the old divisions are overcome." Hopefully, he now understands that divisions cannot be overcome between the United States and a government with no respect for human rights and a history of threatening us and our allies.
No matter what Ahmadinejad does now, Obama's response should be simple and forthright: We recognize no government of Iran until its people's will is recognized first. America must speak up for the cause of freedom, not attempt to overcome divisions with a government that doesn't really try to mask its true intentions. No new beginning is possible for Iran as long as its leaders practice more of the same. Ahmadinejad and the ruling clerics must go.
Noelle Nikpour, a Republican strategist and fundraiser, regularly appears on Fox News, The Strategy Room and various political talk shows. Respond to this column by writing to letters@sun-sentinel.com.
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