President Obama's presidency is in peril for two primary reasons. The first, his inability to be a transformational leader to an American public hungry for it, is of his own making. The second, the thinly veiled demonstration of racism unskillfully disguised as "concern for country," is both to be expected and not of his own making.
First, President Obama came into to office promising "change that we can believe in." However, on the signature issue of change, health care reform, he has not led, choosing instead to send a litany of mixed messages as to whether he would turn the Byzantine labyrinth that is the American health care system on its head. A transformational leader takes bold, decisive, innovative action if he or she believes that it is right for the country. Thus far, on health care, the president has not demonstrated transformational leadership; he has pledged fidelity to the status quo.
Time after time, the President and his team have delivered anemic polemics that were amateurish at best and incompetent at worst. These included a dreadful and inept message on the "public option" which seems to suggest that we can expect neither reasoned deliberation nor resolve from this president. Fearing that he was losing the rhetorical war, the president did what he has come to be known for; he delivered a speech.
The problem of course is that a good speechmaker does not a transformational leader make. While he scored some rhetorical points, he also raised grave questions about whether he is a transformational leader. Among them, did he fail to anticipate the pitfalls of changing the American health care system? Is he aware that transformational leadership requires the ability to orate and deliver? How does he define change? Is he counting on a critical mass of the non-critical thinkers among us to follow him because he is not George W. Bush?
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