Walter PattersonThe question came out of the blue. To be perfectly honest, I had not even considered this possibility.
No way. Everything on the surface looks like the final preparations are being made. But the young lady who asked the question was dead serious. I stroked my chin, ran my hand through my gray hair, cleared my throat, and calmly sat down in the nearest chair. She stood calmly looking at me waiting for an answer. I was supposed to know about these things.
After all, I wrote a column each week giving my opinion on politicians and the government and anything in between. I could tell that she wanted an answer to this profound, yet simple, question.
Should I be honest and tell the truth, or should I fake it? My failure to respond was obviously making her a little uncomfortable, so she asked the question again. “Do you think President Obama will seek re-election in 2012?
“To tell you the truth, I have never thought of that possibility,” I said slowly. “The Washington press has reported that he is raising one billion dollars for his re-election campaign, and at this moment, all signs point to the fact that he will run,” I replied slowly. “Why do you ask?” I queried.
“Well, from my point of view, he doesn’t like the job. He’s always traveling somewhere or playing golf, doing irrelevant things. What about his basketball picks? It just seems that he has more important things to do than figure out who will be the top basketball team in the country,” she replied.
“Why do you think he may not run for re-election?” I inquired.
“It’s just a feeling,” she replied, “a woman’s intuition. You’re probably right, and I’m wrong,” she stated as she began to move away.
“Wait,” I extolled. “You’ve asked a question that has not been asked before, and I want to discuss this with you. Why do you think Mr. Obama may not run for re-election?”
She looked at me for a moment as if I were perhaps the most inastute person she had ever met, and then she began, “Well, if you read the Washington Post, they are calling him ‘Obama the invisible.’ His poll numbers have dropped to 43 percent in the Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll. Even the liberal press is beginning to criticize him for his lack of leadership. I thought I would never see that.”
“What else makes you think he may not run?” I asked in a subdued voice. This young woman had done her homework.
“Hillary Clinton,” came the reply. “This Middle East thing is scary, and Hillary knows it. You can tell by looking at her on television that she is frustrated and tired - perhaps angry. It looks to me like the administration has sent her out on a limb and is sawing it off.”
“Go on,” I urged.
“When Hillary was asked if she wanted to serve in a second term, she said ‘no.’ And it was not a nice ‘no.’ Do you want to be Secretary of Defense? ‘No!’ ‘Do you want to be vice-president?’ She gave the same abrupt answer. When Hillary is mad, she cannot cover it up. She knows something is going on in the White House. That’s why she is upset, and that’s why Mr. Obama is so detached - invisible as the Washington Post describes it.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Just this. Japan’s nuclear plant burns, and Mr. Obama is in Rio. The economy is bad, unemployment is rising, serious inflation is beginning to occur, taxes are too high, the cost of living is out of sight, and the Middle East, especially Libya, is in turmoil. We have no energy policy, and Obama has placed a moratorium on drilling. Have you bought gas this week? We have no coherent foreign policy, and Hillary knows it. That’s why I don’t think Obama likes the job and will not run again.”
“Would you like to write the next column?” I asked meekly