Anywhere But Here

The concluding quote in this post at the Huffington Post on the tough year the president has had in 2013 took me aback:

“I would argue that if he didn’t have the website collapse, he wouldn’t be subjected to the five-year curse as much,” said Dean [ed. former DNC chairman Howard Dean]. “All the other five-year curses were of the sitting president’s own making. This one you may argue that three people down the line screwed up the website, not Obama. … I do not think that he has been personally stained the way the other presidents were.”

I realize that Dr. Dean is a party functionary and as such can be expected to put things in the best possible light but that remark strikes me as detached from reality. Just look at the graph of declining presidential approval in the linked post or the analogous one at RealClearPolitics.com. The president’s approval rating has been declining for a solid year, since long before October 1 when the unready condition of Healthcare.gov was exposed to the light. You could argue that some of the decline in the president’s approval rating since October 1 was due to the failure and the attendant press coverage that included revelations that would have come to light years ago with a press corps less eager to show the Administration in a good light. But all of it?

And who’s responsible for the “three people down the line”? Especially when even the president refers to the PPACA as “Obamacare”. Does the president have no responsibility at all for the lack of attention to the portal for the signal legislative accomplishment of his first term? We’ve come a long way since Harry Truman. Apparently, the buck now stops anywhere but here.s approval rating has been declining for a solid year, since long before October 1 when the unready condition of Healthcare.gov was exposed to the light. You could argue that some of the decline in the president