The question that belies the new administration’s infinite number of programs is whether each additional initiative adds followers or deletes them.
Will the gain of union support for the attempt at the card check legislation be more than offset by the loss of business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs? Will the quasi nationalization of the major auto companies gain or lose support? Will his stand on the Middle East gain or lose followers? Will his huge deficits attract or detract supporters?
Obama won with 52.9 % of the vote, and that was running against a very unpopular party tied to a very unpopular war with a disastrous economic collapse just months before the election. Many supported the new president, hoping he would govern more to the center than he ran.
There are liberals who are disappointed that he has not been as aggressive in winding down the war as they hoped, that he has not fully endorsed gay marriage as much as they wished. And there are independents whose support dwindles with each new program.
The danger of so many and such ambitious programs is that each one will erode a little support and the total will turn his support upside down.
Yet even this erosion may be moot if the Republicans cannot articulate a clear alternative and present a leader that can effectively deliver the message. Recycling Newt and Sarah will not work.
While the Republicans still seem lost in the wilderness, every new program Obama announces may be costing him support. With such an ambitious agenda he may sow the seeds of his demise- one cut at a time.