They still don't get it

They still don't get it. They, of course, are the denizens inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., safe and confident within the wrought-iron bars that encircle the White House like a protective moat.

For much of America, the stunning special election in Massachusetts to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy (D) served as a repudiation of the manner in which the president and the Democrats in Congress had placed partisan ideology over pragmatic policymaking to govern the nation. In a state where Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats by a 3-to-1 margin, clearly something had sparked the attention of the electorate, something to upset the equilibrium whereby Democrats controlled most elective offices and Republicans losing them was nearly a foregone conclusion.

That something, of course, is a growing sense that President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats just don't get it, that they are so fixated on healthcare reform, cap-and-trade legislation and bemoaning the "mess" they inherited from President George W. Bush that they have lost touch with where the country is today.

Americans are looking for jobs, hoping to pay the mortgage/rent and looking to ensure they have enough food to put on the table in these tough economic times. They are not looking to their elected leadership in Washington to apologize for America, give constitutional rights to terrorists seeking to blow up airplanes on Christmas Day or cram through a healthcare bill that will raise their taxes while reducing their options to receive affordable coverage.

After one of the most stunning political wakeup calls in recent American history, President Obama remains the aloof Imperial King rather than the empathetic and compassionate chief executive he inspired voters to believe would bring a new order of hope and change to Washington. Rather than bringing his chief political adviser (David Plouffe) back to the fold, the president would be better served by bringing in a senior hand to be placed on the rudder to correct the listless circles in which this White House has been drifting for the past several months. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and veteran White House adviser David Gergen immediately come to mind.

Unless and until the president and his advisers depart from this misguided populist assault on capitalism in America, they will only reinforce a message that the American people have already received loud and clear: They still don't get it.