In a strange bout of liberal acknowledgement, Martin conceded that Barack Obama "rode into office on the 'blame Bush' tidal wave" that had become "the Democrats' most famous fallback position."
How convenient Martin waited more than a year to say this in public. If he'd done his job and called out Democrats for using excuses right from the start, he wouldn't have to spend a whole column admitting it now.
The impetus for this revealing piece was Martin being displeased with Obama's new policy in Afghanistan. After spending much of his recent career being an Obama apologist, Martin found himself unable to support the troop surge. The result was a warning that Obama's allies would not be able to blame everything on Bush:
With President Barack Obama's decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan by sending 30,000 additional troops to battle Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, he has put his imprint on the war on terror, and at the same time, given up the Democrats' most famous fallback position: blame George W. Bush.
Couple that with the economy and we are seeing the end of the president's first year in office coincide with him having to accept the full responsibility for the condition of the country.
It wasn't that a full year of governing the nation had worn out the defense over time. President Obama's one year anniversary just happened to coincide with him committing to at least another 18 months in Afghanistan, and without the anti-war left around to guard Obama's flank, the Blame Bush strategy would simply fall apart:
But none of this will be easy. Just look at those who support the president. He has been taking incoming fire from Moveon.org and other progressive/liberal groups, angry with him for not pulling troops out, and instead sending more in. He needed their fervor to win the nomination and the presidency. Can he withstand the aggressive pushback they will provide?
Martin then went on to warn that once the ranks began to break on the left, support would dwindle for a variety of other policies as liberals joined conservatives in realizing that Obama was in over his head:
As the criticism piles up, ranging from the economy to the war to promises kept and those broken, the Obama Administration is knee deep in governing, and everyone knows that is far different than running for office.
In talking with multiple White House officials, they say they are convinced they are doing the right things to correct the direction the country is going in after eight years of Bush. But he's now gone, and isn't available to kick around anymore.
Martin was happy to let Bush Derangement Syndrome work as long as Obama lived up to his liberal obligations. But as soon as the president angered the left, Martin began to see visions of a mid-term election revolt:
Americans continue to like the president personally but not his policies. But his support has steadily eroded since taking office, and unless things change for the better, his party will likely suffer at the ballot box next year, and it might get ugly.
So without the advantage of Bush Derangement, and with rabid liberals turning against Obama over the war, Martin was suddenly afraid the President would not be strong enough to keep his party in control.
Just a few months ago, Martin defended Obama by calling conservative critics "insane" and accusing them of "acting like children." Yet now that criticism began coming from the left, it was a serious sign of Obama's fading support.
Beware the fury of a liberal scorned.
