to see the problem isn't the Democrats' "message."

In conjunction with my previous post about independents' dissatisfaction with the Democrats, I noted that political pundits have been debating whether the election results were based on local or national issues, and whether Democrats need to recalibrate their "message,"

But it doesn't take a wonk to realize the problem has nothing to do with the Democrats' message because the Democrats aren't following their own script.

Let's consider what Obama and the Democrats campaigned on in 2008, and how they've governed in 2009:

Spending

After the Bush Administration ran up deficits, Obama vowed to "restore fiscal accountability to government spending". In particular, Obama and McCain debated over taking scalpels and hatchets to the budget. Now it's only fair to take into account that a lot of this was political posturing, and politicians on both sides of the aisle believed the economic problems required stimulus spending.

But Obama purposely left the details and creation of the stimulus bill to Congress, who used the stimulus bill to incorporate billions in pork while pushing actual stimulus off until 2011. Obama also pushed off his proposed ban on earmarks until 2010, justifying passage of a $410 billion spending bill as a creation of the Bush Administration and not his own.

At the same time, the Democrats hammered Bush on his fiscal irresponsibility, with Pelosi accusing him of "mortgaging our future." Democrats using fiscal responsibility as a campaign theme was especially ironic given that Democrats have historically been viewed as advocates of federal spending, to say the least. And as I detailed in my previous post, the Democrats are doing nothing to disabuse people of the notion that they think they're playing with Monopoly money.

Foreign Policy

More and more, it seems like Obama and Congress are the Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne of foreign policy. The remarkable thing is that it seems as though Obama and Congress don't agree on any current foreign policy strategies.

Obama vowed to "[continue] the long American tradition of smart diplomacy to keep the country safe while improving America’s standing in the world." Even his most ardent supporters would concede that Obama's "smart diplomacy" has yet to show tangible results, or at least results most Americans would consider to be positive.

Moreover, Congressional Democrats themselves have been uneasy with the Administration's actions (and inactions) in the foreign policy arena. Last month, Congress, growing restless with the pace of Obama's diplomacy with Iran (if no movement at all can even be characterized as pace), resoundingly passed a resolution supporting the enactment of crippling sanctions on Iran.

In January, Congress resoundingly passed a resolution affirming the United States' strong support for Israel and a recognition of Israel's right to defend itself. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration spent the year making diplomatic gaffes that 1st graders could have avoided, from taking a tougher stance on settlements than the Palestinians, to backtracking on their stance, to backtracking on their backtrack, to Holocaust historical revision in the Cairo speech. The result is an Israeli approval rating of about 5% for Obama, and another excuse for the Palestinians and the Arab World to pretend their goal isn't the destruction of Israel be intransigent.

But while Obama made most Congressmen look like neocons in comparison to him on Iran and the Middle East conflict, it's the Democrats in Congress who are losing their stomach for fighting in Afghanistan, after Obama and the Democrats accused Bush of diverting resources from the "necessary war." While Obama's Afghanistan re-review has left a lot to be desired, it appears as though he is going to increase the troops in Afghanistan in some capacity. This decision comes amid prominent Democrats like Kerry and Biden advocating no troop increases, and disagreements among Congressional Democrats as to the best plan of action. A few days ago, Pelosi claimed that not many House Democrats support a major troop increase.

It seems the blind will continue to lead the blind.

Other Social Agendas

Obama and Congressional Democrats agree on most of the social agendas, but there has been little action on these fronts, given the preoccupation on the stimulus and health care. Apparently, Obama's promise to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell would either distract from more important tasks, or it would require spending political capital. Both of those arguments are full of it. While Obama agonizes over military decisions regarding Afghanistan, he refuses to move on a policy affecting the military that would easily pass Congress. Ok, so maybe there's a common theme of inaction there.

Obama says he's against gay marriages, but he opposed the Defense of Marriage Act. Given the huge Democratic majorities, it would seem possible to repeal DOMA, but it doesn't appear as though the Administration or Congress plan to throw homosexuals a bone for their support anytime soon.

It becomes clear that the problem the public has with Obama and the Democrats is not that they openly advocate bad policies. The problem is that they openly advocated politically expedient policies and are not following through on them in a way the public wants.