An Incomplete Grade For A Failing President

Michelle Obama tried to make the case that her husband’s job isn’t finished yet and that he needs another four years to finish it. This seems to be one of the themes of the Democrat Convention. President Obama the other day was asked what grade he would give himself for his first term. He said he gave himself an incomplete, apparently the First Lady ran with that. She isn’t the only one, deputy Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said an incomplete is a “totally awesome” grade. These people really believe that Obama’s grade is an incomplete and worse they think his grade is ‘totally awesome.’

The truth of course is anything but. Obama seems to believe he’s lowered college tuition during his term, that would be news to college students. Unemployment is up during Obama’s term, as is the national debt. The national debt in fact is up over $5.3 trillion, it topped $16 trillion yesterday. Median income dropped from $54,000 to $50,000 during Obama’s term. Yet Obama thinks he earned an incomplete for one term in office. It is almost shocking how arrogant and out of touch such a grade is. We have 46.7 million people on food stamps, Obama thinks this earns an incomplete. Obama has been giving the same stump speech for four years, the country is in a worse position now then when he took office and he has the unmitigated audacity to say he earned an incomplete.  

Over the weekend David Axlerod and several other Democrats couldn’t answer the question ‘are people better off than they were four years ago?’ The obvious answer is no and these guys all know it. They looked like complete fools dancing around the issue. This is an important question, in fact it’s an important moment in the campaign. If the Democrats cannot argue that we’re better off than we were four years ago, how exactly can they argue for another four years of Obama? Why wouldn’t people want to make a change after four years of massive debt, higher taxes, less freedom, more unemployment and more food stamps? If the Democrats cannot argue why Obama should be elected, their only pathway to victory is to declare Mitt Romney unsuitable for the White House. It seems they’ve gone that route over the summer, it’s their only way to win.

If we aren’t better off than we were four years ago and David Axlerod and the Democrats more or less admit it, how then can Obama earn a ‘totally awesome’  incomplete? What fantasy land must he live in to believe that he’s earned an incomplete. Can you imagine the press letting a Republican off the hook with self grading like Obama’s? Can you imagine the press reaction to an entire convention built around a grade of incomplete? Yet that’s exactly what we have at the Democrat Convention. The First Lady made the case last night that her husband deserves an incomplete and thus four years to complete his transformation of America.

It is of course absurd for Obama to suggest he’s earned an incomplete grade after four years in office. Unemployment is up, prices are up, the economy is stagnant, his economic policies have failed and he has no new ideas for his second term. His own campaign can’t say yes when asked if the country is better off than it was four years ago. 

His first term is almost complete, it deserves an actual grade. Obama can’t give himself a F, D or C and expect to get re-elected. He also knows he’ll get attacked in the extreme if he gives himself an A and slightly less extreme if he gives himself a B. He doesn’t want another ‘you didn’t build that’ moment so he gave himself an incomplete. It feels planned in light of the First Lady’s speech, Obama’s team must have anticipated a grading question and decided to run with an incomplete. The question for voters though is do we want a man who thinks the last four years earn an incomplete to be allowed to complete a grade with another four years? In short, if the grade in four years is a D or F, do we really want to allow Obama to complete the job?