I have written almost nothing about national politics since Barack Obama was elected president, but the election in Massachusetts is just too much to stomach. A Seattle Times article contained a quote that I thought accurately described what happened in that vote:

"Scott Brown caught the wave," Massachusetts Democratic consultant Dan Payne said. "People are worried about jobs, angry about Wall Street bonuses, upset about the deals being made for health-care legislation, afraid of nuts like the underwear bomber. Nothing seems to be going well except stock prices."

In November, there will be thirty seven Senate seats and all four hundred and thirty five House seats up for election. Nineteen of the Senate seats are now held by Democrats. The election will be critical as to which party is favored.

As I reflect on the vote in Massachusetts I am becoming more and more fearful that President Obama may be another Jimmy Carter – a nice, upright and moral man who is very well meaning, but who lacks the toughness needed for national politics to be an effective president. His willingness to forgive politically and to seek compromise to avoid confrontation seem to be contrary to what is needed when dealing with Republicans who have no intention of being reasonable or forgiving.

I fear that if he does not dramatically change the course of how he runs his presidency we will have another Republican Congress and Republican president in the next elections. I am concerned whether Mr. Obama is capable of changing his basic reluctance to exercise political power in an effective manner through reward and punishment – the traditional methods of politics. He is dealing with Republicans who are determined to bring his presidency down and many out of control Democrats who are as much of a problem as the Republicans. Where is Tip O'Neal or Lyndon Johnson when we need them? The herd of our own party has to be brought under control as well as resolute determination to move ahead with the issues of the day.

The reality is health care legislation is exactly where it was when Clinton totally botched the job. It is now dead on arrival even if some wimpy legislation manages to pass through more watering down compromises. That, by the way, would be worse then death of the bill. The dead body of the failure to pass appropriate health care legislation should be buried quickly before it begins to stink. After that, there is the economy, followed by Afghanistan and Iraq and terrorism. These issues must not be allowed to drift around in an seemingly aimless manner any longer because because total attention being focused on health care.

In Barack Obama we have a man of high moral character whose heart is in the right place as president of the United States. All he needs now is exercise political leadership in an energetic forceful manner to effectively deal with the Republicans and members of his own party. The consequence of the failure to do that between now and November is just too painful for me to contemplate.