The fact that Obama is getting criticism from the left and the right might reflect his understanding of the underlying political dynamics.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
There's something about Barack Obama that induces Americans to imagine what they cannot see. The Right envisions a vile socialist, while many on the Left picture an inspired liberal, politically restrained in his first term but now free to pursue his true beliefs.
Let me just say, I think there's a reasonable criticism to be made of the Obama administration on the way that it left Iraq.
In several short years, Obama has fundamentally shifted the balance away from the individual and toward government, and has altered the national psyche from self-reliance to ever-growing reliance on government.
Rhetorically, President Obama is a champion of bipartisanship. In practice, though, he is almost always its enemy.
Obama offers himself as a catalyst by which disenchanted Americans can overcome two decades of vicious partisanship, energize our democracy, and restore faith in government.
If his presidency is to represent the full power of the idea that black Americans are just like everyone else - fully human and fully capable of intellect, courage and patriotism - then Barack Obama has to be subject to the same rough and tumble of political criticism experienced by his predecessors.
Obama behaves like a centrist who leans tentatively left on certain social programs but boldly right on military force and civil liberties.
Taking a principled and consistent stance over Iraq has attracted much criticism from our detractors and opponents.
Many conservatives were openly angry with the Bush administration over enormous government spending and the chaos in Iraq. I don't see as much independent thinking on the left, where President Obama is rarely criticized by his acolytes.
It's not about Obama, it's about the Democrats and their policies that cause consternation on the right.