There is no hiding from a record

Obama was elected on the promise of changing the direction of government. He would reverse the rightward leanings of the executive branch that have been in place since 1980 with an aggressive, leftward, progressive agenda. No longer would federal bureaucracies react to the economy ... the federal bureaucracies would drive the economy. And how has he kept that promise?

Steven Hayward writes in PowerLine:

Obama has collapsed on the Bush tax cuts, the debt ceiling, expanded the war in Afghanistan, said “never mind” to his promise to close Gitmo, went to war against Libya without congressional authorization or UN resolution, and retracted several key environmental regulations while signaling that he will approve the Keystone pipeline. Progressives are starting to notice.

This is a short list of his failures. But what about his accomplishments?

ObamaCare was passed along a strictly party line vote. The voters' response? A Rasmussen Poll of likely voters indicates that 57% of likely voters favor repeal of this unprecedented expansion of the federal government's impact on our very personal lives.

The financial reform has created more uncertainty in the banking sector, keeping investment cash on the sidelines. It's too complicated for the evening newscast, but the stifling effect that this has had on our economy is stunning in its breadth and depth. It's often said that generals fight the last war ... the Dodd-Frank bill is no exception: It blatantly ignores the huge role that the federal government played in causing the ongoing housing crisis.

And then there is, of course, nearly $1 Trillion in so-called "stimulus" ... again passed along party lines. All that has gotten us is zero net job growth for the first time in over 55 years; an explosion in sovereign debt; and some really snazzy signs to litter our roadways.

Obama's record of failure has exposed leftist policies for the sham that they are. The policy initiatives that he has endorsed have resulted in consistently poor results for the country. The conservative policies that he has grudgingly accepted are the only ones that he can claim have enjoyed any kind of success. The progressives will vote for him because they have no one else. But he cannot run on his record, even with the media pulling for him.