Well, I’d say Obama did pretty well at his press conference the other night – so he must just have been off his game a couple of weeks ago at his first press conference.

Right now Obama’s going through the part of his presidency where folks are taking a good look at how he does in the White House – and the verdict’s still out. His poll numbers may be dropping – but that’s not unexpected. He stumbled with AIG and voters are feeling tremors about his economic stimulus plans but, basically, there are factors being weighed in the scales of public opinion – and the scales haven’t finally titled one way or the other.

Which brings up a key point: Ultimately, Obama’s presidency comes down to policy – not politics. If his policies work it won’t matter if he turns out to be the most inept politician since, well, Grover Cleveland – he’ll be a hero. And, conversely, if his policies fail no amount of politics will save him. He could be the political equivalent of Houdini and it won’t matter. If Obama’s right and spending three trillion dollars gets the economy moving – he’s home free. But, if not, spending three trillion dollars marching in the wrong direction will have pretty severe political consequences.

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