Electoral Impatience or Cracking Confidence in Obama?

Cable news and the internet have transformed politics in America. Once upon a time, one person (Walter Cronkite) informed a nation about the goings-on in Washington via television, and that was 30 minutes a day, five times a week. In 2009, it’s a thousand voices, incessantly droning on about political intrigue 24/7/365, wherever you are.

Among the numerous ways instant-news has affected our culture, one is particularly evident.  Uninterrupted broadcasts have created massive impatience. Americans can turn on CNN, download Fox News, view YouTube videos, or scan political blogs from phones, computers, or TiVo with the click of a button. We enjoy instant gratification with everything else. Now we’re starting to expect it from politicians.

Two prominent senators may have demonstrated this over the weekend. Expressing concern about Obama’s handling of the financial crisis, Richard Shelby, leading Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is on “shaky ground”. Rehashing the AIG debacle and how Geithner managed the New York Fed during the first bailout, Shelby reiterated, “My confidence is waning every day. If he keeps going down this road, I think that he won’t last long.”

On another program, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, Obama’s would-be nominee for Commerce secretary who later withdrew his name, was even more critical. He gave Obama’s proposed budget “a negative 3″ on a scale of 1 to 10. Gregg later implied that Obama’s expenditures would ultimately bankrupt the United States.

These are tough words from US senators, albeit on the minority side of the aisle. And their concerns are not without merit. But we should also remember that we’re only two months into the new administration. It begs the question: Is this a case of an electorate’s (or senators’) impatience with political action or is confidence sliding in Obama’s ability to handle this financial crisis?

With total fiscal 2010 spending estimated at nearly $3.6 trillion and the U.S. deficit at nearly $1.1 trillion next year, there’s definitely room for concern. Or maybe, we’re asking too much in too short of time from a freshman president. We’ve grown accustomed to microwave popcorn, instant rice, and downloadable movies. The economy is a slightly bigger issue than electrons or packaged food. In the interest of charity, maybe Geithner deserves a little more time to comprehend the intricacies of the problem – then act accordingly.