Thursday night, Mr Zero will try it again. Finally, after three years, Obama has to measure up to "great expectations."

updated and edited for grammar and content, 12 am Monday morning

As many of you know, Obama has called for prime time televised exposure to his Thursday evening speech. Adding to this rather common circumstance - how many times have the networks given this guy "prime time exposure - we have Obama asking for a joint session of congress, which is most uncommon. Understand that "joint session" speeches are reserved for the most monumental of occasions. George W Bush called for a joint session of congress following 9/11, for example. As a result of these two considerations, Obama has sent a message to the nation that this particular speech will be something very special. His problem?

First, he has really talked his influence to death, especially in the United States. No one cares, any more. I have lost track of the number of speeches and personal appearances given by this man, but there is no doubt that the total is more than all modern day presidents (since and including FDR) combined. In 2009, for example, Obama gave 726 speeches. That is more than two speeches per day. If you figure that each speech took-up 3 hours of time in preparation and travel, Obama spent 278 eight-hour-days out of 350 doing NOTHING but flapping his gums. In credible !! His time before the camera has been amended during his second and third years but the fact remains that he is over exposed to the point of being irrelevant. So much so, that the Speaker of the House has told him "no" and 5 NASCAR drivers, invited to the White House, have, also, told the president "no," that they are "too busy."

Secondly, [and this point is part of our Monday morning (12 am midnight) update] is the rather surprising fact that the larger political community (the world outside our borders) is looking to this speech as one of the most important speeches of the past several years. Sunday, I spent several hours listening to the televised analysis on CNBC and Bloomberg, looking for financial news and editorial direction. I was rather startled to hear commentators on each network make their opinions known and stand in agreement with folks they interviewed in both the Asian and European venues to the point that there are great expectations on the part of "foreign markets" as to the Thursday speech. In the remainder of this post, part of my original purpose was to present Obama's effort at playing down rising expectations, expectations he, himself, fueled, as to the content of the coming "joint session" performance. Turns out, he should have started this effort back in the day when he was pretending to be the most consequential American leader of a century pf American leadership. He is the only presidential candidate to take his campaign to the world. You cannot do this without raising expectations. The world is not on the same page as those of us in this country. Opinions of Obama are much higher than in this country. If his speech is a dud - ala the past several performances - the world might find itself disappointed in the man they think they know. (end of update).

Apparently, some time over the past three days, someone on his staff suddenly realized that Obama's speech was not going to be the end all, earth shaking, monumental "address to the nation" that he has spent three weeks promoting. On August 15th, in a local town hall meeting, he had this to say about the up and coming speech: "I'll be putting forward, when they come back in September, a very specific plan to boost the economy, to create jobs, and to control our deficit. And my attitudes, get it done. (Applause.) And if they don’t get it done, then we’ll be running against a Congress that’s not doing anything for the American people, and the choice will be very stark and will be very clear." (Source: the town hall text found here).

Update: it is this very paragraph (immediately above) of thought that gives us his original strategy for this speech. His initial intent was for the beginning of his re-election strategy. He would present a few ideas, but, most importantly, he was determined to embarrass the GOP side of the aisle, in front of the nation, presenting himself as the "man in middle," an innovative leader hoping to accomplish great things but being opposed by a dysfunctional congress. Well, the cat is out of the bag on that strategy and, suddenly, he is faced with the reality of "great expectations." His ability to talk is not nearly as critical, on this occasion, as his ability to share ideas and strategies that will merit his campaign pledge for a "fundamental transformation of the United States of America." "Time for talk is over; time for action is here" are words he has not spoken in over a year and a half. Thursday, he has to fish or cut bait, and that was not his original intent. (end of update)

Compare this to what is being reported by Fox News:

Aides say Thursday’s speech will be part of a bigger plan the White House will roll out throughout the fall with the president hitting the road for speeches and town hall appearances. Aides have already confirmed that Obama will be traveling to California, Colorado, and Washington state for one three-day swing later this month that will include economic events as well as some fund raising.

The move could be a way to try and lower the stakes for Thursday’s Joint Session appearance, but it could also be an attempt by the administration to show the president is trying to stay all over the economy heading into what will likely be an uphill re-election battle.
“There’s no question the president will want to keep returning to jobs,” one top aide told Fox News. “I don’t want to downplay the speech [next week] — it’s going to be substantial. But the idea that this is the be-all and end-all is wrong.”

In the end, the Thursday speech will be nothing special because there is nothing "special" left in his "quiver." Rather, Obama clearly intends to use the opportunity to chastise congress and score points off the the mere presence of those assembled. He is a classless jerk with nothing but cheap political tricks on his mind. We all know that his first plan was to trump the GOP debates on Wednesday night. He was rebuffed on the timing of that speech and now, his minions are making excuses and desperately trying to lower expectations. Let's not forget that his first budget proposal of the year was defeated in his Democrat controlled Senate in February with an embarrassing vote of 97 to 0 against his proposal.

Please note the "zero" in this vote.

Yes, his ideas were that bad. He made a second try in April and the nonpartisan CBO could not score the proposal because it came to them as little more than a speech. It was not a "proposal." In fact, the head of the CBO told Obama, at that time, "We cannot estimate a speech."

In other words, Obama scored less than zero.

And now, 5 months later, this novice politician, is about to make [perhaps] one of his biggest rhetorical mistakes of the past three years.

To be sure, he will have ideas and specifics, but nothing new. To be sure, he will call for bi-partisanship, while, at the same time, mocking the GOP side of the aisle and placing blame on conservatives.

Me? Oh, I will read about it later that night. I have to prepare food for the big game, Green Bay versus New Orleans, the last two Super Bowl champs, and two of the strongest teams of the coming season.

All of Obama's policies have added up to a zero jobs report for the month of August. Expect more of the same from Mr. Zero.