The First 100 Days: Why it Doesn't Matter

Obama is marking his first 100 days in office and to commemorate the event he is going to hold what feels like his 100th news conference. Actually it's his 5th.

All over the net and on cable TV news they are hyperventilating over the commemoration of Obama's first 100 days. CNN is doing an all night special where people will be asked to vote and rate Obama in different categories on his first 100 days. It's gotten so silly Anderson Cooper actually did a story on Michelle Obama's first 100 days. So is there any reason for marking the first 100 days other than trying to drive ratings and web site hits?

The idea of the first 100 Days goes back to FDR's first 100 days and what he was able to accomplish. But that was a very different set of circumstances. FDR came into office two years after the Depression began and two years after a Republican President and a Republican Congress thought the best way to handle the Depression was to do nothing ( okay so some things never change).

Given two years of neglect, FDR had to take action and he had to take action fast and he did get a lot of programs through to deal with the Depression in the first 100 days. Those programs turned the country around. But that is after being able to look back and see that what FDR was a success. That can't be done now with Obama.

It is obviously far too soon to make any rational assessment of anything Obama has done. His first 100 days can only be marked "incomplete" in terms of policy and programs since no one knows if any of it will work. And if someone insists on grading him in terms of where things are now, it would have to be an F. All the major indicators are lower now after the programs have been put in place than they were when he took office. Unemployment worse, foreclosures up, retail sales down. And putting together his cabinet was one false step after another with both Daschle and Bill Richardson having to withdraw, various under secretaries having to withdraw because of tax problems and a whole slew of other posts still left unfilled including Surgeon General.

The auto bailout which Obama backed has been a total failure and was a dubious from the start. The $39 billion given to the auto industry is tax payer money down the drain.And then there was the AIG fiasco including the fiasco over the bonus payments and Obama's deceptions regarding his role in the bonus payments proclaiming "outrage" when the bonuses were paid when it was Obama himself who gave the ok to have Treasury ask for the loophole in the legislation that allowed the bonuses to be paid.

Giving Obama a grade for his first 100 days in office is, in the end, silly and is being driven by a media tripping over themselves, CNN in particular, who, with their record of pandering to whoever is in power, seems to look for any excuse to give Obama credit for something.

Other than setting a record having more press conferences in his first 100 days than any other President had in their first full four years, and giving a speech or holding a press conference every time you turn on the TV, you can't point to anything that can be called an accomplishment. And that's because it's too soon to know.

He is doing some things that I think are the right things to do. Investing money in education, renewable energy and taking on healthcare reform ( as long as its meaningful) in spite of the economic conditions makes a great deal of sense. These are things that need to get started now because it will be years in terms of energy and education before the benefits can be reaped.I opposed the auto bailout and the bailout of AIG and I still think I was right about both.

But in the end, nothing matters except results and there is no way to know that for some time. The Republicans have all but forfeited their right to even criticize given that they kept their mouths shut for 8 years while George Bush ran the country into the ground. They may have some things worth listening to -- both Shelby and Corker echoed my own feelings about the auto bailout. But for the most part they had their chance and apologizing for it now is too little too late.

But the entire hype around the first 100 days is just that -- hype. It's a good excuse to get people to go to web sites to cast votes to create more ad revenue and boost ratings for cable news networks. And of course, it's an excuse for yet another speech and another press conference. But its not the first 100 days that matter. Only the remaining 1.360.