President Obama offered the nation a mea culpa this week after two highly placed nominees bowed out over tax trouble, but that didn't end the talk about how his campaign rhetoric promising a cleaner Washington has held up during his presidency. National Journal this week asked Political Insiders and top political bloggers how much damage has been done to Obama's image by the controversies surrounding Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and William Lynn.
A plurality of Democratic Insiders and a majority of left-leaning bloggers said Obama's image has sustained "only a little" damage, with "some" damage a strong second. "Obama, having made rookie mistakes, has owned up to them, which is the best way to make them go away quickly," said David Kravitz of Blue Mass. Group, who voted for "only a little" damage. However, one Democratic Insider who voted the same way cautioned, "If the policies he is identified with work, these are footnotes. If the policies don't work, these become part of a new narrative."
Pluralities of Republican Insiders and right-leaning bloggers agreed Obama has seen "some" damage. Second place among the Insiders was "only a little," but second for the bloggers was "a great deal." One Republican Insider said, "Outside the Beltway, it is chipping away at the perception that President Obama is above the fray. Inside the Beltway, it undermines the sense that his team does not make careless mistakes." David Kopel of The Volokh Conspiracy, writing about Daschle, argued that "it helps Obama in the long run that he will not be in the Cabinet, since he would have been a visible link between the administration and the Rangel/Dodd/Frank congressional culture of corruption."
