QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  From George Will, appearing in Newsweek:

In August our ubiquitous president became the nation's elevator music, always out and about, heard but not really listened to, like audible wallpaper. And now, as Congress returns to resume wrestling with health care reform, we shall see if he continues his August project of proving that the idea of an Ivy League Huey Long is not oxymoronic.

Barack Obama in August became a Huey for today, a rabble rouser with a better tailor, an unrumpled and modulated tribune of downtrodden Americans, telling them that opponents of his reform plan—which actually does not yet exist—are fearmongers employing scare tactics.

Will goes on to say, in this worthwhile column, that Washington is seriously unserious.  Projected numbers make no sense.  Key legislation isn't doing what it's supposed to. 

The Rasmussen poll, which we've published just below, shows the size of public discontent.  The president's plunge in the polls is not simply a reaction to his health plan, or lack of it.  It's something, in my view, much deeper.  In electing an inexperienced Chicago politician with a silver tongue, Americans knew they were taking a risk.  But many saw in Mr. Obama a kind of redeemer, a man who would cleanse things.  They also saw a symbol of American tolerance and diversity, a thoroughly noble idea.  In one election we could show the world that we are not, at heart, a racist nation.

When expectations are great, and ideals high, the disappointment can be shattering.  No one expected Mr. Obama to solve all the problems of the country in six or eight months, but they did expect him to perform far better than he has.  I get the feeling that many people now doubt Obama's ability to do the job - not to get the job, but to do it.  We know how good he is at getting.

And the racial uniqueness has worn off.  Yes, there are still some Americans who cannot accept a black president or first lady.  And, yes, there are some people who want Mr. Obama to fail simply because of his race.  But I think the number of these misguided souls is smaller than we had a right to expect.  The disillusionment now is among people who have no problem with a very ethnic president, but do have a problem with a man who cannot govern well.

The real test will come in foreign policy.  We used to say that we can take four years of a bad domestic policy, but four years of a bad foreign policy can be fatal. 

That crunch is coming with Iran, Afghanistan and the Mideast in the fall.  Everything up to now has been prelude.

August 31, 2009