Perhaps You Should Listen, Not Lecture, Mr. President?

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Obama expressed regret that, “we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people.”

---

As reported at abcnews.go.com, in part:

“President Obama said today that he believes he lost a direct connection to the American people in his first year in office because he focused too heavily on policymaking. ‘If there's one thing that I regret this year is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people ...’ Obama told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview at the White House.”

However, as reported at cbs.news.com, in part, the president was hardly a shrinking violet when it came to communicating directly to the American people. According to that report, Obama’s first year in office included the following activities:

• Speeches, Comments & Remarks: 411
• News Conferences: 42
• Interviews: 158
• Town Hall Meetings: 23

Clearly, Obama’s problem is not a shortfall on the sending end of the communications loop. Rather, it is obvious that Obama and his congressional cohorts need to listen to what the American people are saying. Listening, rather than denigrating those who hold opposing views by calling such people Nazis, Astroturfers, Tea Baggers, and right-wing extremists, should be a priority in the liberal play book for 2010. Obama’s personal goal should be to listen, not lecture!