Obama Needs New Change to Believe in After Debacle

From Bloomberg by Al Hunt - No-drama Obama may need some drama, or at least a shakeup. The cool, detached, sometimes too insular president will suffer a political drubbing in tomorrow’s midterm elections. It could be fatal or a glancing blow to his presidency, depending on how he responds. What is necessary, leading Democrats say mostly in private, are fresh personnel, policies and approaches; a midcourse correction, not a radical overhaul. The early signs aren’t encouraging. Obama has tapped a deputy, Pete Rouse, to fill in for Rahm Emanuel, the departing White House chief of staff; the National Security adviser, General James Jones, is being replaced by his no. 2, Tom Donilon; and longtime Obama adviser Denis McDonough will fill Donilon’s slot. They are very able. Rouse is one of those rare Washington insiders who practice the late General George Marshall’s dictum that you can accomplish a great deal if you credit others. He is a stranger to self-promotion and has served Obama well in the Senate and White House. Yet these appointments convey a signal of promoting the junior varsity after the varsity has been shellacked. Read here:

Obama Needs New Change to Believe in After Debacle