Politico co-founder John Harris and Jim VandHei have a piece out this morning that begins almost as a parody of left-wing Obama-worship, attempting to answer the "mystery" of why ""Obama is perceived as failing to win over the public, even though by most conventional measures he is clearly succeeding."
The piece gets better as it goes on, however: "on the issues voters care most about — the economy, jobs and spending — Obama has shown himself to be a big-government liberal. This reality is killing him with independent-minded voters."
More:
In what would surprise media critics outside Washington, many reporters don't much like Obama or his gang either. They accurately perceive the contempt with which they are held by his White House, an attitude that undoubtedly flows from the top. Insults and blustery non-responses, f-bombs flying, are common in how West Wing aides speak to reporters.
In a transactional city like Washington, personal relations usually only matter at the margins. But in a poor political climate those margins can be important, and there's no mistaking that across the capital there are many people who seem to be enjoying the president's travails, and cheering whenever he takes a cream pie to the face.
Mystery solved.
