Hidden Agendas

One of the popular themes among conservatives- especially the Libertarian right- is that President Obama has some sort of hidden agenda to drive/drag/push America into full-fledged socialism. Granted, there is a lot coming from the administration- and Obama himself- to confirm that.

I’m going to step out on quite a limb by saying this, but I’ve come to believe recently that Obama is, in fact, does not have a hidden agenda to socialize America. Any agenda he has to socialize America is, or will be, out in the open. Some of his advisors/followers/czars may have hidden agendas in that regard. I’d bet they probably do. But America’s greatest problem right now is Obama’s real hidden agenda, though that agenda, too, is starting to see the light of day.

Obama’s only agenda right now is trying to look like a competent captain on a sinking ship.

His party is going to suffer serious losses in both houses of Congress this November, possibly losing control of at least one house altogether. Even if the Democrats’ firewall strategy holds, and they retain control of both houses, Republicans will gain enough seats in the Senate to sustain filibusters when necessary. Given Obama’s strength as a campaigner, Democrats should be flocking to his side in the runup to November. Few, if any, Democrats are calling him in to boost their poll numbers. Even when he’s tapped into his strength and gone into campaign mode to try to drum up support for his agenda, his efforts have not yielded their usual fruit.

Some of this is attributable to the unpopularity of his agenda on its face. Some of it is due to the unfulfilled campaign promises of increased transparency and an end to politics-as-usual. But I think a large portion of this is due to a lack of confidence in Obama’s ability to govern. That’s right; as great as he may have been on the campaign trail, he has not established himself as any kind of effective leader. He seems out-of-touch with the American people with his spendthrift economic policy, his decidedly pro-Islamic foreign policy (which probably explains the large percentage of Americans that believe he’s Muslim), and his “blame Bush first” economic policy. Mostly, though, he seems to be trying to appear to be “above it all.” Instead, he comes across as aloof and disconnected, content to let the maelstrom swirl around him as long as he remains unharmed.

Now, Obama’s disconnectedness may be just what his advisors want. They may have signed on to take advantage of his charisma to further their own political agendas. If so, expect many of them to start finding excuses to jump ship (like Rahm Emanuel) before it sinks completely in November. Those who followed him on his meteoric rise (which is kind of a funny idiom… since meteors are usually seen as falling) to fulfill their own personal ambitions may soon leave, though some may stick around to function as the wizened voice of dissent from the inside (Hillary Clinton, perhaps?). So, there may be plenty of hidden (and not so hidden) agendas in the White House. I just don’t think Obama has one… unless he’s hiding it from himself.