(Dobbs) Disingenuous Promises Can Catch Up With Anyone, Mr. President, Even You

At the depths of his presidency, Joe Biden’s numbers didn’t look this bad.

There is a reason why your poll numbers are going down the tubes, Mr. President.

Actually, there are about a hundred reasons, but the main one is, you haven’t been honest with us. Eventually, disingenuous promises can catch up with anyone, even you.

People might not be quite as angry about inflation figures that came out yesterday if only you had not made such unsupportable assurances when you ran for president in 2024. You asserted in your official platform as well as pretty much every speech you gave that you will “end inflation, and make America affordable again.” You promised “lower everyday costs.” You even made a point about delivering “affordable energy.” But that didn’t happen, did it?

Instead, inflation rose to 3.8% last month, the highest in four years. That generally means that collectively, everything you buy costs almost 4% more than it did a year ago.

When the war you injudiciously started with Iran forced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the price of gas was the first victim— some economists think soon the national average will break the five dollar barrier for a gallon of regular— but eventually everything else that depends on gas to make its way to the market, which is just about everything, went up too. And in another set of figures that don’t help the American people, wages are no longer staying ahead of inflation.

More people say they’re making hard choices between paying for electricity or paying for food. Doctor visits are one of the first casualties.

People also might not be as upset about the duration of the war with Iran if you’d been honest and said that it could take months, maybe even years, to achieve the objectives you erratically laid out. But you didn’t. At one point early on you projected, with confidence you couldn’t possibly really have, a timeline of two to three weeks. Today, with ships piling up in the Strait of Hormuz and no new truce in sight, is Day 74.

But with you, unfounded projections and proclamations disconnected from reality are no surprise. Begin with your confident boast almost a year ago that the United States “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. That doesn’t square with your contention that we have to stop it now. And how many times have you told us that an agreement with Iran is right around the corner? It reminds me of Henry Kissinger who told reporters at a news conference about Vietnam in 1972, “Peace is at hand.” Peace didn’t actually come until 1975.

I see only three possibilities for your misguided pledges. The first is, you just didn’t know that Iran would fight back. What that would prove is you are more naive than many of us even think you are. The second is, people around you tried to warn you, based on the history of the Islamic Republic, that Iran would not buckle, but either they were too intimidated to push as hard as they should have, or more likely, you were too self-absorbed as the “stable genius” you say you are to listen. So you were recklessly wrong. And third, you listened, you knew, and you ignored it all.

The duration of the war so far is also no surprise. You thought military tactics alone, missiles and bombs, would bring Iran to its knees. They didn’t.

You never came up with a solid strategic plan to minimize the war’s impact on the nation and the world. It is serious and it is still spreading. Given the damage to oil facilities in the Gulf nations that could take years to repair, and given Iran’s intent to control the waterway that was open to everyone before you started your war, analysts project that the harm, and the cost, are long-lasting.

Now, your poll numbers show you are paying the price for your denseness and your deception. In this New York Times graph, your approval numbers began to drop right after your 2024 inauguration and your disapproval numbers began to climb. As of now, not even 40% of Americans think you’re doing a good job.

At the depths of his presidency, Joe Biden’s numbers didn’t look this bad.

Mr. President, you deserve every vote of no confidence you’ve gotten. The November midterms, on which so much rides for you both presidentially and personally, are still six months away and a lot can change. But it would be impossible for you to bring prices down overnight, and it is looking increasingly impossible for you to bring a quick end to the war, because Iran is showing strengths you were not informed enough to foresee.

That’s on you.

While ultimately the wallet-draining inflation and the destructive war we’re now enduring might not last, voters’ memories of hardships they’re suffering will. So will their memories of your lies.

Over more than five decades Greg Dobbs has been a correspondent for two television networks including ABC News, a political columnist for The Denver Post and syndicated columnist for Scripps newspapers, a moderator on Rocky Mountain PBS, and author of two books, including one about the life of a foreign correspondent called “Life in the Wrong Lane.” He also co-authored a book about the seminal year for baby boomers, called “1969: Are You Still Listening?” He has covered presidencies, politics, and the U.S. space program at home, and wars, natural disasters, and other crises around the globe, from Afghanistan to South Africa, from Iran to Egypt, from the Soviet Union to Saudi Arabia, from Nicaragua to Namibia, from Vietnam to Venezuela, from Libya to Liberia, from Panama to Poland. Dobbs has won three Emmys, the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and as a 39-year resident of Colorado, a place in the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame. He also has been a consultant for the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab.

You can learn more at GregDobbs.net