Doom-and-gloom politics

Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

America, it seems, is becoming a more pessimistic country. A year ago, as President Barack Obama took office, millions of Americans expressed hope that things would get better. But for many that hope has sadly turned sour.

Obama has a 50 percent approval rating going into his second year in office. That’s lower than any president since World War II except Ronald Reagan, who garnered an approval rating of 49 percent. A year ago at his inauguration, Obama held a 67 percent approval rating.

“What Americans wanted and expected was a better economy, a reduced presence in Iraq and a fundamental change in the way Washington does business,” Democratic pollster Peter Hart told NBC News. “This hasn’t happened. And not surprisingly, the president has suffered.”

Some suggest that was bound to happen because expectations were so high for this president after George W. Bush’s eight years in office. Expectations certainly play a part in the national attitude. It seems that some people thought everything would be better just by Obama’s presence in the Oval Office. Unraveling problems from the previous presidency doesn’t happen overnight, nor does an economic turnaround.

A USA Today analysis of polling data found that people’s attitudes toward the president are jelling in some odd ways. There are those who hold a positive view about the president but don’t think the economy will recover any time soon. There are those who are bullish on an economic recovery but not so on the president. What is troubling, though, is that those with negative views of the president and the economy seem to be bitterly entrenched.

Certainly there are people who are contrary just to be contrary and people who oppose any president no matter what happens. However, these polls seem to show something more bothersome: Those people with the negative views seem to be excessively pessimistic. The USA Today analysis says they think the president is a “catastrophe” and the economy is “calamitous.”

These couldn’t be the Reagan Republicans who embraced “It’s morning in America,” could they?

It’s doubtful. This is a pessimistic lot that seems proud of its negative outlook. Right-wing commentators and some Republicans in Congress have driven a lot of the dissatisfaction, pushing the frivolous claims of people like the “birthers” and stirring up dissent for political gain. They have thrown all the mud they can at the president and Democrats, no matter if it is true.

The right wing says Obama has been a failure in his first year, yet fails to consider all he has done and how active he has been. For example, Obama pushed the stimulus package that created and saved hundreds of thousands of jobs, successfully championed a measure to overhaul the nation’s schools, negotiated the health care bill and made strategic changes to the way the country is waging war in Afghanistan.

That is a pretty big agenda — and a good set of accomplishments — for any president, much less one in his first year. Looking back at 2009, what do the Republicans have to offer? Tea parties and birthers?

Scott Brown’s victory Tuesday in the Senate race in Massachusetts puts the Republican Party in a position to prove itself. Brown gives Republicans 41 votes in the Senate, which breaks Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority. Now the question is whether Republicans will use that newfound power to engage in the issues, which they refused to do the last year, or obstruct progress in Congress.

The pessimism of Republican congressional leaders in their political dissent has been corrosive, especially considering how much of it is contrived. Although some from the right wing tar the president and Democrats in Congress over any issue, they should remember that by doing so, they are also staining the institutions they hope to gain control over. That will only serve to further erode the public’s confidence in government for no good reason.

Nevertheless, the president is going to have to step up his efforts to re-inspire the public and give people the confidence that, given time, his policies are the right course for the country.

As for the Republican Party, putting a somber political spin on issues to move poll numbers and creating doom-and-gloom scenarios to scare voters are wrong. Instead of trying to drive down the president or Congress’ ratings, right-wing critics should be stepping up and offering their own ideas. Enough of the “party of no” shtick — it’s time for Republicans to work with Democrats to create a positive vision for the nation.