Via Real Clear Politics:

“I suspect that most people in Cincinnati would acknowledge that I’ve tried real hard, and we haven’t gotten the Republicans to engage on a whole range of issues that, I wish had happened,” Obama said in an interview with WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“Part of what I think needs to happen in this election is the voters once again have to send a message, ‘We want common sense ideas. We don’t folks who are just saying no to everything. Even stuff, traditionally [they] were in favor of,” Obama said.

OK, we’ll stipulate that Obama has “tried real hard”.

Tried and failed. This is not a job where the employer is obliged to be patient and let a failed manager learn on the job.

The quote belies Obama’s biggest weakness as a leader. He refuses to acknowledge that the other side has a legitimate position. Thus all the reaching across the aisle he’s willing to do is to bully and bludgeon the Republicans into submission. It hasn’t worked.

One of the key attributes of a successful leader is the ability to step into his adversaries’ shoes, to appreciate his perspective and his key motivating factors. This is the process by which workable compromises are crafted.

Even when he holds a strong hand, Obama repeatedly comes up a cropper. Not since the days of James Earl Carter has our country had such an ineffective leader. Like Carter, Obama seems clueless of leadership dynamics in what should be the world’s most powerful position.

We can’t afford to keep this man in a responsible position.

“I won.”