Duncan Gillies: Obama the fall guy for America

I'm starting to wonder about Barack Obama.

Not about where he was born or whether he's a Muslim or whether he regularly meets Osama bin Laden for tea in his cave on the Afghan border or any of those other things that Republicans raise in that roundabout way of theirs.

No, I'm wondering why he's President. I think he might have been set up.

In 2008 it looked hard for the Democrats to lose the presidential election. For any Republican hoping to take over the tenancy at the White House there were more than a few problems to overcome.

Some polls had George W. Bush's approval ratings at 19 per cent. The economy was in a mess. Two unpopular wars. That stuff was going to stick.

Winning was going to be the easy part for the Democrats. Keeping voters happy was going to be the really hard part, and they must have known it.

The Democrats could easily have thought they could let a dog run and win. Or a woman. Maybe even a black man.

Now, I don't seriously think the Democrats would have considered letting a dog run the country. I try to avoid serious thinking. I've seen the damage it can do.

Having said that, soon after Obama became President, he did get a dog, Bo, with whom he is often seen walking and discussing what appear to be matters of national and even international importance.

But regardless of who's calling the shots behind the scenes, the buck stops with Obama. And it doesn't matter who created the problem, if you're in the big seat and you haven't fixed it, you're to blame.

So Wednesday's mid-term elections, where the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, were described as a referendum on Obama's performance as President. And, because the US is still struggling, he is seen by many to have failed.

Sarah Palin, the woman who would have been Vice-President had the Republicans won in 2008, put it more bluntly during a morning interview this week with that forum of free-thinking Fox News.

"You blew it, President Obama. We gave you the two years to fulfil your promise of making sure that our economy starts roaring back to life again. And instead I believe things are getting worse."

When she says "we", you get the impression she was part of a hockey moms' coffee group whose members, after sitting around exchanging hunting stories while skinning raccoons, started talking politics and decided,

"Well, he may lack experience and probably can't wrestle a grizzly bear but his heart seems to be in the right place, and it might be nice to have a black President for a change, so, yeah, let's give him two years to see what he can do."

But as John McCain's running mate, Palin didn't give Obama any time to do anything.

What she probably wanted to say was, "Look here you scrawny little commie Muslim, you wanted to show everybody just how good you are. Well, we gave you the opportunity. We gave you so much debt and unemployment and war spending that it was almost impossible not to look good. And did you get rid of the debt and unemployment and find your friend Osama? No. I've shot moose that would have made a better president than you."

Because in the eyes of Obama's opponents, the bigger the mess, the greater the opportunity. They did him a favour, he went and wasted it.

Obama was always going to become an easy target. And Palin, now the figurehead of the Tea Party, which campaigns for a government so small you can fit it into your back pocket, has led the assault.

Palin is now seen as a potential presidential contender in 2012 and could be in with a chance if TV channels agree to replace political debates with an arm-wrestling contest.

Obama, though, doesn't seem to know how to fight back. All he did to defend his performance was point out - in that stern but non-threatening way of his that makes you think he's telling his daughters to stop making noise and go to sleep instead of addressing the American public - that change takes time.

Unfortunately, when you are on the dole queue with little hope of finding a job, or you have lost your home as a result of the collapse of the housing market, or just haven't seen your life improve in ways you were told it would, you're not interested in waiting. Obama found that out this week.

* Duncan Gillies is the Herald's Foreign Subeditor