Even the expected-to-be-sympathetic-to-Obama Howard Fineman is knocking Obama around a bit in his latest column:
"No, it is the Democrats who are giving Obama pre-inaugural fits. And that is not surprising, of course, for they are Democrats. And it must be said that Obama himself hasn't played his January hand all that well."
And there's plenty of evidence for that: 1] Not long ago, Obama too seemed to make a very absolute commitment that he wanted no Blagojevich appointee seated in the U.S. Senate. Now he's backed off that. 2] Obama appoints Leon Pannetta as head of the CIA, but he and his staff didn't even bother to make courtesy calls to Hill committee chairs who deal with intelligence issues.
3] And he and his staff didn't vet Bill Richardson nearly well enough. Mr. Obama's going through a bit of a rough patch, and he hasn't even begun his administration yet. Where's all the "competence"?
