According to the journalists at ABC's Good Morning America, the disastrous rollout of ObamaCare has left the President in a perilous position comparable to George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina. Co-host George Stephanopoulos opened the show by announcing, "White House fumble...The fix [Obama] is offering and why one state is already saying it won't work."
Stephanopoulos connected the President to the unpopular George W. Bush, worrying, "Once those questions about [Bush's] competence took hold, his second term never really recovered. Is President Obama in that kind of a position right now?" Analyst Matt Dowd unloaded, saying of Bush that one Katrina happened,"his presidency, and the relevancy of his presidency was over. I think with that, that is exactly what we're seeing with President Obama."
So, it shows how far Obama has fallen that Dowd flatly declared:
MATTHEW DOWD: No presidents recover when they get this low...in the course of their presidencies. And if history is any guide, he's going to have a very difficult time recovering.
Perhaps all the doom and gloom talk was too much for the former operative to Bill Clinton. Stephanopoulos offered an imaginative scenario on salvaging ObamaCare: "The counter-argument is if the website is fixed by the end of the month, if people start to sign up and health care works, than his signature, his signature achievement, legislative achievement pays off."
Dowd wasn't buying: "That's a huge if."
A transcript of the November 15 GMA segment is below:
7:04
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's take it to our political analyst, Matthew Dowd. Boy, the White House knew he had to go out there and take his licks yesterday. We've never seen him do it in the way he did it. But did he do enough to begin the recovery?
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, modern presidents have had so much trouble in their second term. You served with President George W. Bush. Of course, everyone knows what happened with Katrina. Once those questions about his competence took hold, his second term never really recovered. Is President Obama in that kind of a position right now?
DOWD: I think what we could look at in two years from now or three years from now, we're probably going to look at this as a tipping point in the credibility of his presidency. Same exact thing, as you say, happened to George W. Bush. It was a series of things and Katrina– which is obviously qualitatively different than ObamaCare. But at that point in time, his presidency, and the relevancy of his presidency was over. I think with that, that is exactly what we're seeing with President Obama. No other president, no presidents recover when they get this low ever recover in the course of their presidencies. And if history is any guide, he's going to have a very difficult time recovering.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The counter-argument is if the website is fixed by the end of the month, if people start to sign up and health care works, than his signature, his signature achievement, legislative achievement pays off.
DOWD: Well, that's a big, as you know, George, that's a huge if. And I think most people expect it's not going to be fixed by the end of this month. And I think it's all in implementation. This is not a communications problem. This is a governing problem and that puts a huge weight on him. Every time there's a problem, he's going to get blamed and he can't communicate his way out of it.
