Fox News panelists A.B. Stoddard and Steve Hayes argued Wednesday that Obama brought on his plummeting approval ratings by giving Americans the impression that he has given up on his job.
In a new Quinnipiac poll, Obama came in first as the worst president since World War II.
"The president is giving Americans the sense that, as he gives up on Congress, he's kind of giving up on his job," The Hill's Stoddard said. "They know he's bolting from the building to go to Starbucks and Chipotle. He's getting bored in the cocoon, he's planning his post-presidency."
Free Beacon editor Matthew Continetti made this argument several weeks ago, writing, "I find nothing paradoxical about Obama’s recent pattern of behavior, nothing mysterious about the golfing, partying, traveling. It is quite obvious: Obama has given up."
And, like Continetti, Stoddard notes Obama's new habit of "having lots of dinner parties where he doesn't talk about policy or politics, but the NBA playoffs--anything but his job."
"That's really troublesome for the American people," Stoddard concluded, "not only because of all the problems we have, but because we're with him for another more than two years."
The Weekly Standard's Steve Hayes concurred, adding, "It is largely because of the president's flippant attitude towards the presidency. 'So sue me'--what kind of a president would make that argument? And where he had been buoyed, I think, by the fact that people liked him or people wanted him to succeed, despite the fact that they might have had some questions about his policies, that no longer exists, because the president is behaving the way that he's behaving."
Charles Krauthammer said that Americans are just now realizing that campaigning is what Obama does best, and "That could be his only great competence--to campaign, to make speeches." As a result, "He gave people hope, but he doesn't know how to govern."