Games reporters play

In a long piece for Mother Jones magazine, liberal columnist David Corn (whom I like) explores the "how Obama lost his groove" meme. The president has not lost his famed mojo. But never mind. It's an endless national pastime for Washington pundits. Naturally, it is written as though we Dems are at the brink of a great cataclysm, as in, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." And naturally it's all Obama's fault.

He then unfurls the usual litany of liberal laments. Size Matters: His stimulus was too small. Obamacare Slog: Glad he got it done, but it took too long. Banking on Banks: He let Wall Street off too easy. Read Me a Story, Daddy: He failed to tell his story and frame the policy debate. Underestimating the Enemy: He should have seen the GOP's misrepresent-and-obstruct strategy a mile off (even though it kinda explains the roots of the aforementioned storytelling mistake).

Corn concedes that Obama is not Superman after all. (Funny how so many, like Corn, thought/hoped he was the Caped Crusader.) But then he rolls out Obama's "Ultimate Political Error": He failed in essence to keep the base energized and engaged in the "narrative."

The narrative?

Right. The jig is up, dude. By “narrative,” Corn means the media narrative. So, in the end, it's all about them – i.e., Obama just won't come out and play marbles with them on the White House lawn, or dance for the cameras. After all, we the media, were in the tank for you. Remember? You, Obama (the real President Jed Bartlet), were going to save the world and lead us to the Promised Land, synced to the West Wing theme song. Like, overnight. Damn ingrate.

(I kid David Corn. He makes a point or two worth chewing on in his piece. Read it here. Just take it with a grain of Washington insider salt.)