OBAMA TONGUE-TIED? - AT 8:09 P.M. ET:  Now there's a headline I never expected to write - Obama Tongue-Tied.  But, increasingly, the president is being criticized for his inability...to communicate.  Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen, in today's Politico, have an extraordinary piece about a problem no one would have expected in listening to Mr. Obama on the campaign trail last year:

Of all the pitfalls Barack Obama might face in the presidency, here is one not many people predicted: He is struggling as a public communicator.

The sluggish and unsteady response to the uproar over AIG bonuses highlights a larger problem of his White House: Obama’s surprisingly uneven campaign to educate people about the economic crisis and convince Washington and the broader public that he is in command of circumstances.

It was brilliant communications skills that carried Obama to the presidency, with a national campaign built on the strength of his personal story and the clarity of his promise to transform politics. On the rare occasions when he was thrown on the defensive, he quickly turned problems into opportunities and regained control of his public image.

COMMENT:  Barack Obama was supposed to be a breath of fresh communications air.  He was, recall, the un-Bush.  He was the man who could explain anything - eloquently, clearly.  That was during the campaign.  This is now.  Read the piece.  And this is only domestic policy.  Wait until a foreign crisis.

March 19, 2009