President is losing his support base

Carmine DiFazio, North Las Vegas

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

As a political observer, I’m attentive to the exact moment when a president’s power and popularity vanish.

For President Barack Obama, that moment was last week just days after riding high from reaming the Republicans for taking the federal government and the economy over the cliff. Why?

Three of the ironclad columns supporting the president cracked simultaneously underneath him: his extreme left base; key congressional Democrats and the mainstream media.

His base lost faith because the rollout of Obamacare failed ignominiously after $1 billion spent, 55 contractors used and

3 1/2 years of effort.

Key congressional Democrats, especially those coming up for re-election in 2014, are frustrated and disappointed by the unending parade of scandals and controversies that the president consistently says he is unaware of.

The media fell prey to his years of promises about Obamacare that have been debunked by Republicans as abominable lies. The Washington Post gave him “4 Pinocchios” for his claim that people who like their health care plan will be able to keep it.

Where does the president go from here? His approval ratings are at 42 percent and falling fast. Obama has been replaced by Vladimir Putin as the most powerful man in the world.

Now, the real question remaining in the last 38 months of his second term is whether he will be ranked and rated worse than Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. His rhetoric can’t trump reality.