The most valuable tool in a president's political arsenal is slipping away from Barack Obama. Once people believe a leader is a liar, it is very hard for that person to be effective in his role.
The credibility crisis that is starting to engulf Barack Obama has many roots. Certainly, his many broken political promises (no higher taxes on anyone who earns under 200k, for instance) are working against him. But politicians routinely break promises. Nothing that new, although George H.W. Bush's experience with "read my lips: no new taxes" bodes ill for Obama 2012.
Far more serious is the growing perception that Obama is, in the favorite word of Holden Caufield, a "phony" -- someone who makes stuff up in order to fool people about who he really is.
It is one thing to try to bamboozle the American public on politics. Voters expect pols to have a loose relationship to the truth. But sports is all about authenticity, the truth expressed in a moment of action on the field, court, or rink. There are more sports fans than political junkies in America. Whatever teams they may root for, the one team they all root against is the Washington Phonies.
The sand is rapidly draining from the hourglass containing Obama's ability to command respect and allegiance. His partisans, living in their social and media bubble, do not notice. But everybody else in America does.
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