Decision Points

Last night I caught bits and pieces of Matt Lauer's interview with W. on the eve of the release of his memoir, Decision Points. I was not surprised at how relaxed and happy the former president seemed - I think leaving the White House after 8 years would have that effect on anyone. For all the negatives that could be (and have been) said about him, you have to respect the fact that he stubbornly refuses to come out and criticize President Obama, as will be seen again next week on a previously taped interview with Oprah. From last night's interview:

LAUER: Mr. President, you have-- remained mostly silent, largely silent over the last couple of years. Why did you remain silent?

BUSH: Well, for two reasons. One: I just didn't wa nt to get out there anymore. I didn't want to get back into what I call "the swamp." I was trying-- I'm trying to regain a sense of anonymity. And the other reason why is I don't think it's good for the Presidency for a former President to be opining about his successor. President Obama's got plenty of critics and-- and I'm just not gonna be one.

Today on the Daily Beast (a liberal blog), I read an article written by a democrat, Mark McKinnon, who crossed over ideological lines by helping run Bush's PR stuff during his presidential campaigns and who has known W. for 15 years. After reading the memoir, McKinnon makes 2 important and related distinctions between the current and former president; distinctions which, in my opinion, are driving factors behind the accelerating slump in Obama's approval ratings and the rise in W.'s. (although Bush doesn't care about that at all. From the Lauer interview: "Your popularity is way up since you left office . . . "So what? Seriously. I mean, if you chase popularity, you're chasing a moment. You're chasing a poof of air.")

(1) "Readers will be surprised by the number of examples in the book where President Bush takes responsibility for failures and talks about mistakes made—particularly in Iraq, Afghanistan, and New Orleans." By comparison, the only "mistake" Obama has conceded relates to "communication problems" he's had with the American people. Ever since his party got its clock cleaned in the midterms, his public comments seem to indicate he's in denial that the electorate just didn't want to go as far left as he wanted to take it, and that during a time where jobs should have been the no. 1 priority, we were force-fed pork barrel bailouts, Obamacare, and cap and trade.

(2) McKinnon: "The book does highlight, however, a fundamental difference between George Bush and Barack Obama. Bush never complains. He never blames others. He takes full responsibility for his campaigns, his administration, his life. He accepts the cards he's dealt." He quotes Bush: "I didn't feel sorry for myself, I knew there would be tough days. Self-pity is a pathetic quality in a leader. It sends demoralizing signals to the team and the country. As well, I was comforted by my conviction that the good Lord wouldn't give a believer a burden he couldn't handle." I honestly feel that many independents who voted for the Hope and Change promised in 08 but voted against Obama last week grew weary of President Obama's repeated and relentless 'woe is me' blaming of his predecessor for all of his problems.

In sum, I think all past, present and future politicians would do well (in general and at the polls) by growing up, maturing and putting more of their energies into solving the problems we face instead of blaming each other for them, especially when there is plenty of blame to go around in both parties.