Barack Obama’s campaign manager urges him not to run as an incumbent

  In 2008 Barack Obama ran on the mantra of “change.” What he was referring to, of course, was changing from the policies of the Bush administration. President Bush was “The Man” and Barack Obama ran as opposing “The Man,” but there is one problem with using this same angle in the 2012 election because now Barack Obama is “The Man” and if he were to run on the mantra of “change” it might be interpreted that Barack Obama is the one who should be changed. After all, he now owns this dreadful economy, has expanded the war in Afghanistan, started a war in Libya, continued most of the Bush policies he ran against, and imposed healthcare legislation against the will of the people.

  His campaign staff has realizes this as well:

However, the president’s team acknowledges that Obama can’t simply reprise his 2008 brand. As the incumbent, “change” this time might mean replacing him in the White House. He can’t ignore the record, both the accomplishments and the setbacks, of his first term.

  And here is what his campaign manager had to say:

We ought not to act like an incumbent. We ought to act like an insurgent campaign

  Normally an incumbent president runs on the strength of his record, but here we have Barack Obama’s campaign manager urging Barack Obama to pretend that he is not responsible for the policies passed while he was president. While all of the Republican candidates will be running against Barack Obama’s record–as they should–I don’t think we have ever seen a case where the incumbent president also tries to run against his own record. His campaign is urging him to blend into the anti-incumbent mood hoping that the voters will forget who is responsible for the economic and political upheaval now prevalent in the United States. 

Because he can’t run on his record, Barack Obama will try to run from his record. This is a stunning revelation from his own campaign manager that his policies have failed; he can try to distance himself from his “accomplishments” but, contrary to Barack Obama’s belief, the American people are not as stupid as he thinks we are.