Check-mated by his own P.R.

I think Rich Lowry provides an apt explanation for President Obama's recent troubles.

It's a sign of how lost he is that he invoked the "I didn't explain clearly enough" defense on health-care — this from the guy whose every utterance has been hyped as brilliant, moving, and for the ages. By the end, the self-pity (it reminded me a little of that debate where Bush kept on saying the Iraq War is hard) and the dishonesty (it's as if he didn't bless all the back-room deals that have disgusted people) interacted in a toxic way. Here is a man check-mated by his own P.R., which created the otherworldly expectation that all the inherent difficulties of governing could be resolved in himself, and his blatant misreading of the electorate and his mandate.