Obama is losing his influence with his own people.

Editor’s notes:  finally,  after four feckless years of presidential pretense,  we have Politico writing a very critical review of H. Obama’s presidential tactics.  In short,  regardless of the issue  (gun control, contraception, etc.),  his rhetoric and political strategies are the same . . .   and it is not working all that well.  Read these comments:  

From Politico:  President Barack Obama’s speeches have a familiar ring these days — no matter if it’s guns, immigration or the budget.

Tout what he’s already done. Say the public’s in his corner. Demand Congress do something. Lament Washington dysfunction. Lay out his own plan. Avoid details. Urge voters to keep up the pressure. Warn it won’t be easy. Bask in the applause.
It’s the fill-in-the-blank approach to selling a presidential agenda: same template, just adjusted for the topic.

But the White House is betting this particular formula will help push Obama’s ideas through, against a resistant Republican House and a skittish Democratic caucus in the Senate.

He struggled during most of his first term to balance competing interests, focusing on the legislative deal-making inside Washington instead of selling his vision beyond the Beltway. Obama has laid out a clear communications strategy to kick off his second term — but without the kind of crisis-inducing deadline that averted the fiscal cliff, his challenge is figuring out how to translate that into actual action on the deeply controversial issues ahead.

The campaign-first, negotiate-second strategy worked when Obama pressured Congress to extend the payroll tax cut in 2011, avert an interest rate hike on student loans in 2012 and eliminate the Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier families. But none were as politically fraught as overhauling immigration, cutting entitlements or establishing new gun restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Understand that folks are losing interest in the political news of this nation.  It began with the 2012 elections,  and is only getting worse. If you called this disinterest "hopelessness,"  I believe that you would right.  A disinterested electorate,  typically,  hurts Democrat incumbents more than conservative candidates.  Eight million fewer Democrat voters went to the polls,  in 2012,  compared to 2008 and if that trend continues,  the 2014 midterms will be another disaster for the Progressive Extremists currently in power.  All we can do is  hope for the best,  on that account.