By Yatindra Bhatnagar

One swan doesn't make the summer and one tree doesn't make the woods. Sayings like that might not be totally true but there is some truth in those words. What happened in Massachusetts last week with the stunning defeat of a Democrat in a long-held Democratic bastion may be just one swan or one tree. But it is part of a trend that started with New Jersey and Virginia and may lead to something more remarkable in months to come.

The Democrats lost the Kennedy seat held by John F Kennedy and then Brother Ted for nearly half a century. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-1 and President Obama campaigned for the Democratic candidate, state Attorney General Martha Coakley, in person. However, State Senator Scott Brown turned the tables on them and made history. With that win, now US Senator Brown is poised to stop the Democrats from railroading the Republican opposition by taking the vital 60^th vote from them.

Massachusetts result has been described as a Disaster for the Demos, Massachusetts Massacre, The Blow to Obama, etc. It has strengthened the trend that might keep growing. The Brown victory has definitely given an ugly jolt to Obama's healthcare plans and to the President's own popularity that has gradually, but certainly, going down with every poll and every step of his.

The nation is still in financial crisis. The unemployment rate is still high. The security situation is scary with the underwear bomber and others plotting against the American people. Gitmo prisoners are happy to expect a 'fair civilian trial' to exploit the American judicial system to keep killing Americans; the bailout has not done anything that was expected, the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from over and Obama himself along with his Democratic Congress is going down in public estimation.

Virginia and New Jersey getting Republican Governors despite Obama's active support for the Democrats quickened the fast slide for the Democratic Party. The Massachusetts poll result, the current unhappy situation in various fields, and nothing in the international arena to convince the people that Obama is capable of  handling things correctly, surely, quickly and satisfactorily, have  given a much-needed push to the Republicans. The GOP is now,   rightly, thinking about staging a political coup later this year.

These clearly devastating blows to the President's once seemingly invincibility and unending charm has changed the perception big time. I would still not go as far as to assert that he has fully lost his magical touch, but whatever he has undertaken in the last 12 months has gone against him and has not enhanced his charm.

Obama personally campaigned for Chicago as the Olympic Games venue for 2016 visiting Copenhagen with his wife and a select Chicago team but the big effort failed at the first hurdle. He went again to Copenhagen for the world leaders' economic summit and nothing came out of it. Under his watch known terrorists are given Miranda rights to remain silent and also American justice system to defend their right - to kill Americans. There is a big list of Obama's acts of omission and commission, and it's growing.

The Democratic Party's leaders in Congress are equally to blame for the Party's growing unpopularity in just one year. In any case, it was not the popularity of the Party but Barack Obama's rhetoric, and his message of hope and promise of change that catapulted him from the junior Illinois Senator to The White House. But the Hope and Change he promised have largely disappeared in the mass of problems created by huge bailouts, reckless spending, enlarging the government control on businesses and people, and non-fulfillment of promises. The Obama words have proven to be hollow and there is no clearly visible effort to control the situation he created by his socialist ideas, arrogance, over-confidence, recklessness, inexperience and contradictory stand on several issues. It's said that even his staunch leftist supporters are unhappy with him. He is inconsistent; he sometimes tries to please everyone but that doesn't work.

On some issues, like transparency in his administration and more bipartisan approach, he failed badly. His ‘transparency' promise has all but disappeared in thin air as the healthcare negotiations are being conducted and ugly narrow deals are struck under thick layers of secrecy. 

His failure on these matters is totally contradictory to his pre-election promises and stand. His opposition to the foreign wars and his ideas to reach out to "Rogue States" are proven hollow. They can't work. His blaming Bush-years for everything that is bad has not gone well with the people in the past 12 months. How long can you keep blaming the past for the present mess you are in? People are fast losing faith in him.

About his choice of close and senior aides, less said the better.  

What Obama had said during the campaign and what he has been doing after he entered The White House are quite different. His first announcement (according to his promise) of closing down Guantanamo Bay Detention center has run into difficulties and the deadline for it has passed without the sign VACANT on the buildings.  Yes, his rhetoric is still there but is not convincing.

Obama's stiff opposition to "Bush Wars" has fallen flat with both Iraq and Afghanistan still smoldering and far from solution. Iraq is, comparatively, under control but Afghanistan is raging and the situation inside Pakistan and on the Pakistan-Afghan border is extremely volatile. The promise of bringing back Americans troops is there but would that be done without fully meeting the goals?  Obama has to send more troops to Afghanistan to save the deteriorating situation. But even on that issue he was neither quick nor effectively decisive. Obama has so far proved to be an ineffective leader, an indecisive commander-in-chief.  

Pakistan, as always, is double-crossing the United States and blowing hot and cold. Obama has still no clear strategy for anything. He must be really a very worried man, though he doesn't show it with his constant foreign junkets, Broadway and Hawaiian vacations and broad smile to show he is not scared of anything. 

The inability of Obama to be on top of things has further weakened and demoralized his Party; the Democratic leadership in Congress is already under strict scanner of the people that have given it very low rating. This is shameful; the Congress doesn't reflect the will of the people and is trying to hide facts from the same people that elect it. Nothing is shared with the voters before voting.    

Clearly the current situation is very much against Obama and the Democratic Party. As things stand today, the coming months do not seem to indicate anything better. The stubborn stand on healthcare in particular, and questionable policy on internal and external situation, in general, have not contributed to make things encouraging for the Demos. The massive Tea Party movement and the disenchantment among the people that had voted for CHANGE have added to The White House and Democratic Party's woes.

The funny thing is despite all that the Obama-media and the Demos are still in denial. They don't give any importance to either Massachusetts or popular disenchantment. The honeymoon is over and yet the hangover seems to be still there to deceive despite the alarming poll numbers for Obama's dwindling popularity -from a big 61 % to a mere 41%. That's the Ostrich act for TeamObama!