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Controversies show how Obama’s inattention to detail may hurt his presidential legacy (Wash. Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/recent-scandals-show-obamas-inattention-to-detail-may-cripple-his-presidential-legacy/2013/10/29/c389feb0-40a6-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_singlePage.htmlNearly a year into his second term, President Obama has yet to master the management of information within his administration. That failure has left him knowing too little at times about the issues that matter the most to his legacy.
Obama, who like many presidents had no executive experience before taking office, has never pretended to care much about the details of governing. He prefers the big speech to congressional arm-twisting, the big reform to incremental change and the big foreign policy ambition to cultivating head-of-state relationships.
The approach has its benefits. But it also means that Obama has at times appeared caught unaware as controversies envelop his administration.
In the past week, he or his aides have said that Obama had no knowledge of two major issues now threatening his agenda: the problems crippling the Web site of his signature health-care program, and the existence of a decade-long spying program targeting the personal phones of friendly world leaders.
In the aftermath, Obama’s broad-stroke view of government and the insular West Wing he runs seem more like liabilities than benefits, raising questions about how much information Obama wants and how he receives it.
“Compared to the president I served, this president doesn’t seem to be as relentlessly curious about the processes of government — whether the legislative process or the implementation process or the administrative and bureaucratic process,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, who was a domestic policy adviser to Bill Clinton.
Obama, who like many presidents had no executive experience before taking office, has never pretended to care much about the details of governing. He prefers the big speech to congressional arm-twisting, the big reform to incremental change and the big foreign policy ambition to cultivating head-of-state relationships.
The approach has its benefits. But it also means that Obama has at times appeared caught unaware as controversies envelop his administration.
In the past week, he or his aides have said that Obama had no knowledge of two major issues now threatening his agenda: the problems crippling the Web site of his signature health-care program, and the existence of a decade-long spying program targeting the personal phones of friendly world leaders.
In the aftermath, Obama’s broad-stroke view of government and the insular West Wing he runs seem more like liabilities than benefits, raising questions about how much information Obama wants and how he receives it.
“Compared to the president I served, this president doesn’t seem to be as relentlessly curious about the processes of government — whether the legislative process or the implementation process or the administrative and bureaucratic process,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, who was a domestic policy adviser to Bill Clinton.
"He prefers the big speech to congressional arm-twisting" <-- Hmm, remember when Senator McConnell proclaimed he would do what he could to make Obama a one-term president, or that Caucus Room meeting?
"the big reform to incremental change" <-- Do you really think ObamaCare is big change? Single-payer would've been "big reform".
The article goes on:
Administration officials say Obama did know what to ask about preparations for the health-care law’s rollout, specifically how HealthCare.gov, the federal Web site designed to help people buy insurance, would function.
For two years, the senior administration official said, Obama pressed for “granular” details about the policy design and the Web site’s construction in regular meetings. The process gave him enough confidence to contend on the eve of the rollout that buying insurance though the Web site would be as easy as buying a television on Amazon or plane tickets on Kayak.
The Web site has been plagued by technical problems from the start, something that could have been anticipated by failed tests that occurred in the month before the launch. White House officials say Obama does not discourage bad news, but it was never delivered to him in this case.
Most recently, administration officials say Obama was surprised to learn that his largest spy agency, the National Security Agency, was eavesdropping on the private cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leader whom the president has talked to perhaps more than any other.
Although he knew about “head of state collection” against the leaders of countries considered adversarial, Obama did not know Merkel and other U.S. allies were targets until late this summer, senior White House officials said.
Former officials in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations say it is hard to believe Obama was never told — and never asked — about the source of the intelligence against Merkel. Before every phone call and meeting with her, intelligence officials brief the president on what the German leader is thinking about Iran, economic policy and other issues of interest to the United States.
Those assessments would be included in the Presidential Daily Briefing, or PDB. The intelligence would also be conveyed to Obama, officials said, in additional sessions around important meetings or phone calls with Merkel.
For two years, the senior administration official said, Obama pressed for “granular” details about the policy design and the Web site’s construction in regular meetings. The process gave him enough confidence to contend on the eve of the rollout that buying insurance though the Web site would be as easy as buying a television on Amazon or plane tickets on Kayak.
The Web site has been plagued by technical problems from the start, something that could have been anticipated by failed tests that occurred in the month before the launch. White House officials say Obama does not discourage bad news, but it was never delivered to him in this case.
Most recently, administration officials say Obama was surprised to learn that his largest spy agency, the National Security Agency, was eavesdropping on the private cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leader whom the president has talked to perhaps more than any other.
Although he knew about “head of state collection” against the leaders of countries considered adversarial, Obama did not know Merkel and other U.S. allies were targets until late this summer, senior White House officials said.
Former officials in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations say it is hard to believe Obama was never told — and never asked — about the source of the intelligence against Merkel. Before every phone call and meeting with her, intelligence officials brief the president on what the German leader is thinking about Iran, economic policy and other issues of interest to the United States.
Those assessments would be included in the Presidential Daily Briefing, or PDB. The intelligence would also be conveyed to Obama, officials said, in additional sessions around important meetings or phone calls with Merkel.
Because that "intelligence against Merkel" had been circulating since the Bush era?
What happened here? Did the Washington Post and Times switch writers?
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