The Magazine  A Vain President, or a Weak One?  Americans don't
like pushovers--especially pushover presidents.  Oct 19, 2009,
Vol. 15, No. 05 • By FRED BARNES Widget tooltip Single Page
Print Larger Text Smaller Text Alerts  George Will suggested
last week that President Obama's self-referential speech on
behalf of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics may lead to his
being known as the "vain" president. Maybe, but worse things
have been said about a president and probably will be if Obama
declines to send substantially more troops to Afghanistan and
rejuvenate his counterinsurgency strategy. He'll be called a
"weak" president. And the label will stick.  A weak president is
vulnerable, politically and otherwise. In Jimmy Carter's case,
being seen as weak in dealing with Iran and the Soviets was a
major factor in his defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. Americans
don't like pushovers, especially pushover presidents. Obama is
at risk of becoming a pushover.  Afghanistan is his test. Public
support for the war has fa