Americans want more drama from Obama

Opinion

It's disaster season in the United States. BP has caused the worst environmental disaster in US history and is naturally coming in for criticism.

But the oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico after more than 50 days could also spell disaster for the presidency of Barack Obama.

According to the latest poll, while 81 per cent of Americans give negative ratings to BP for its handling of the oil spill, 69 per cent of those surveyed by the Washington Post-ABC have faulted the Government for a "not so good" or "poor" performance.

It may seem mystifying, in a situation where BP has the responsibility and the unrivalled technology for the clean-up, that the Government is now being blamed by a majority of Americans.

But in a country where facts are so often overshadowed by opinion, the media coverage has come down to one thing: why can't the President blow a gasket?

The President's rage, or lack of it, has become the surreal focus of much of the comment in the mainstream US media over the past week.

He has been quoted as saying "plug the damn hole". It was not enough.

On CNN last week, he told Larry King: "I am furious." The problem was that Professor Obama looked as cool and collected as usual.

It all comes down to his leadership style. That's why Americans elected him. Remember "No drama Obama"?

"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people, but that's not the job I was hired to do. My job is to solve this problem and ultimately this isn't about me and how angry I am," he said on CNN.

But he has been publicly flayed by one of his Democratic Party allies, "Ragin' Cajun" James Carville, for failing to take a more "hands on" approach. Since then, he has flown to Louisiana several times, but it may be too late.

In a defensive appearance on NBC, the President finally showed his temper, saying he had flown to the Gulf of Mexico long before most of the "talking heads" were paying attention to the catastrophe.

He also defended his brains trust of advisers, saying they were not sitting around in a "college seminar" but finding out "whose ass to kick". Coming from Obama, this is strong language indeed.

After 18 months of the Obama presidency, we know that this is a man who wants the facts before he makes up his lawyerly mind. That's why he was accused of dithering over Afghanistan. His scholarly attitude means that the Administration initially tends to downplay events with a potentially global impact.

The failed Christmas Day bombing in 2009? For Janet Napolitano, "the system worked" when an al Qaeda suspect attempted to detonate his underwear on an airliner about to land in Detroit. The President remained out of sight in Hawaii for three days before commenting.

The deadly Israeli interception of a Turkish aid ship en route to Gaza on May 31? In the face of worldwide condemnation, the US Administration reacted cautiously and demanded the full facts.

So far, so rational. But the Obama Administration lacks consistency. Take the increasingly fraught relationship with America's key ally, Israel.

When the Vice-President, Joe Biden, was publicly humiliated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Jewish settlements while he was in Jerusalem, he remained in the city and it was left to Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, to read the riot act on his return.

Only a few days later, she was talking about the "unshakeable bonds" that link the two countries. It would have been more understandable had Biden left town and said, like former Secretary of State James Baker did, "when you're serious about peace, call us".

Any US president was going to have a hard time, given the current climate of "tea party" anti-incumbent protests amid the worst economic downturn in a lifetime and with congressional elections looming.

There is a pervasive mood according to which big corporations or big government can't be trusted to solve problems. But increasingly it seems that the President's problems are of his own making.

Luckily, the President still has his admirers. Paul McCartney was just at the White House serenading the first lady with a rendition of Michelle.

"After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is," the singer said afterwards.