Barack & Sarah's reversal of fortune

By MICHAEL GOODWIN NY Post

November 25, 2009

Last year at this time, Bar ack Obama was fresh off his historic election, riding a honeymoon high that would see him hit 70 per cent approval. Voters gave his party control of Washington, and media acolytes were force-feeding the nation syrupy comparisons to FDR and Lincoln.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, was sent skulking back to Alaska, beaten as well as defeated. John McCain wouldn't let her speak on election night, a final insult in a race where she was ridiculed as a little nutty by the mainstream press and a little slutty by late-night jackals.

What a difference a year makes. And the winds of change are still gaining speed.

Obama's fall from grace has been dramatic as he pushes unpopular policies from a health-care overhaul to 9/11 terror trials in New York. His approval is below 50 percent, and the man who rode the wave of public anger is now the focus of it. Even deep-blue states like New Jersey are falling out of love.

He has redivided the nation he promised to unite, and those who strongly oppose him outnumber those firmly in his corner. Independents and moderate Democrats are jumping ship, having concluded he was not honest about promises to govern from the center.

Even more surprising, Palin is the darling of discontent. Her book, "Going Rogue," is a publishing sensation, selling 600,000 copies in two days. Thousands of people camp out overnight to buy the book and get her autograph.

She's becoming the phenomenon Obama was a year ago.

This flip-flop in fortunes stems from many factors, war and recession chief among them. Yet ultimately, Obama has mostly himself to blame.

He's aligned himself with the left wing of his party instead of the ordinary Americans who identify with Palin. His Ivy League eloquence seems tired next to her wrong-side-of-the-tracks passion.

That she could quit her job as governor and still rise from the dead is a testament to fury at Obama and his policies. She is probably not a viable 2012 candidate; then again, he's not looking so hot himself.

His slide is prompting some beleaguered supporters to argue that expectations for his presidency were naively high. Laugh out loud at that one.

He set those expectations with messianic-like promises, such as the claim his election would mark "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."

No sign of that yet, but unemployment and the deficit are soaring. And speaking of the planet, some of his climate-change advisers have been cooking the books by hiding inconvenient data and squelching dissent. So much for science and transparency.

Oh, and the phony stimulus job stats don't pass the smell test.

Recent events perfectly capture his problem. Still undecided after reviewing Afghan policy for over three months, Obama opted for a bowing-and-scraping trip to Asia.

The long visit was a waste of time and showed "disturbing amateurishness in managing America's power," writes Leslie Gelb, a foreign-policy expert whose book aims to help guide Obama. Apparently, the president didn't read it.

Obama then marked his return home with his 25th golf outing and a promise that "I will not rest until . . . businesses are hiring again and people have work again."

He should get his rest. It's the golf he should give up.

His choice of words at the Monday photo op was also revealing. His obsession with health-care bills surfaced as he saw an "urgent need for us to get to the finish line," before conceding that most people are focused on "jobs and the economy."

Indeed they are. So why isn't he?