The people who get you to the White House are not necessarily the people you need around when they overstay their welcome and outlive their usefulness.
When I became a member of President George W. Bush’s senior staff, I was told that White House service at a senior level was an “opportunity not a career” and that the average tenure was 18 months.
That told me the job would be demanding and involve long hours, that I should be prepared to do the best I could to serve the president, the country — and then move on.
It is important for the president to have an able and loyal staff that serves well. Nevertheless, staff turnover is healthy for the president personally and for the institution of the presidency.
It is clear by the latest mishandling of Syria and a domestic agenda that is mired with hyper partisanship that the “C” still surrounds the Obama team when it comes to staffing.
He needs to get rid of his lingering campaign operatives and incompetent staffers and trade them in for staff that understands the powers and prestige of the presidency from a historical, political, legal, and practical sense at this time in his second term.
Something tells me that with the many missteps and policy setbacks plaguing this White House lately, it's time for a change.
The president is learning the hard way everyday that it is much easier to campaign than to govern.
The president and his staff believed with all their heart, that if he would just apologize to the world for perceived past transgressions, our sworn enemies and detractors would change their ways and we would all live happily ever after. Well, Iran has gotten more aggressive since Obama took office, as has North Korea.
Now with the Syria fiasco, the president’s self-inflicted wounds of threats and “red lines” has hurt his popularity, his credibility and his ability to affect foreign policy while all bud sidelining his domestic policy.
Most disappointed by his Syria blunders are his most ardent supporters. Polls have shown that a majority of people who identify themselves as Obama supporters do not agree with him on taking action against Syria.
The Obama administration in the second term has also been plagued by scandal after scandal — be it the Benghazi cover-up, NSA domestic spying, or IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) organizations for their political beliefs.
As a candidate, Sen. Obama had all the answers. He told us that he had well thought out policies to fix everything, from the economy to healthcare to convincing the Iranians and North Koreans to abandon their nuclear ambitions. He even promised to close Guantanamo.
We now know that the president has no policies, only ambitions. President Obama has ceded much of his power to the legislative branch or to czars who are not accountable to anyone but him.
Obama has no relationship with Congress and passes on his leadership to Congress by telling it to come up with legislative solutions with bills he can sign, while telling his czars to implement policy without any need for oversight or authority.
He is a “no heavy lifting” chief executive, who is letting the inmates run the asylum and now the “chickens are coming home to roost.”
A seasoned staff of professionals would never let the president get bogged down like this.
The president does not possess the requisite experience or judgment without help from others competent enough to help.
It is tough for any executive to rid himself of loyal personnel. But the people Obama has around him now just can’t cut it. Unless he regroups — and does so quickly — he will cripple his presidency and will become the lamest of ducks.
Many of his senior staff starting with Valerie Jarrett needs to exit stage “left.”
The reality may be that the best staff in the world cannot save Obama from himself.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports from Bradley Blakeman — Click Here Now.
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