The President faced the American public or more accurately the press today  and based on my reading of his dutifully recorded quotes the President was unwilling to realistically appraise where his Presidency is going and how it will be impacted by a GOP controlled Congress.

One quote that I saw earlier today said something to the effect of "Americans are disgusted and are just going to keep firing people  through elections till it improves." Sadly, the President from the consensus of reports was not willing to acknowledge the abrupt right hand turn his presidency is about to take as many of his quotes today instead lamented the pitiful and pathetic turnout which by the way is a routine and already accepted fact of midterms. While commenting on the poor turnout is factual the President was simply engaging in one his favorite rhetorical tools where he paints a broad unobjectionable  point in an effort to filibuster and avoid engaging in discussing Washington and political nuance.  

In Washington and political reality, the brutal and historic trouncing the Democratic Party took at the polls on Tuesday was not a repudiation of President Obama but rather the the leadership of the Democratic Party as as whole. While it may be true that the President seems to be bereft of domestic allies he can only thank himself and the power he delegated to now Minority Leader Harry Reid.

In order to fully grasp the abysmal direction willfully and stubbornly charted by Minority Leader Reid one need only consider the various hot button "scandals" that erupted in our politics since the childish and pointless government shutdown battle last year.Whether it be the VA, Underage Immigrants at the border, or previously the ACA rollout the Democrats resisted giving the GOP any reasonable capitulation if it meant admitting an error in policy or direction.

 Lest anyone forget Democrats came out of the shut down battle with sizable leads in the generic ballot and the GOP being bashed for willful self destruction. Senator Reid and the rest of the Democratic messaging machine then cynically decided to emphasize the Koch money in politics, the fair shot agenda, minimum wage, student loan forgiveness, emphasis on women and gay equal treatment pay and rights. All noble goals and issue which never had the needed focus or direction of the Democratic party because in actuality they amounted to show votes of support.

One might applaud Reid and leadership for aggressively pursuing a very Progressive agenda if he wasn't simultaneously shutting down the Senate in a constant and relentless blocking of amendments and by extension debates in the chamber of government known for DEBATING. Reid rhetorically backed a litany of progressive ideas while he practically did just as much as the scorn of all democrats Obstructionist Beohner to shut down any legislative business getting done. However, you can't bash Reid for being inconsistent. In fact he's consistently spoke glowingly about the need and hope for immigration reform and campaign finance while his actions worked only for self preservation.

Democrats need to rebuild their Latino  Millennial and Centrist support because their desperate acts of preservation over the past year have only proven disastrous to themselves. In doing so honesty and nuance about the actual battles going on in D.C will be crucial for expectations and working with a Congress now united by a party that can barely hide its glee and scorn. The President will have to barter and trade with Congress. Some constituencies might end up being disappointed but at this point six years in the President ought to get better at spinning losses than he was in his presser today.

Jim Hornstein