Saint Obama? Not quite…

Will 2012 be a good year for Barack Obama? His job approval ratings reached a six-month high this week on the back of news that had he had secured a payroll tax cut for American workers. He’s also benefitting from the conclusion of the Iraq war and the fact that, with next week’s Iowa caucuses fast approaching, his Republican opponents look hopeless.

Obama’s populist re-election message, in which he says, in effect, that he is the good guy and it is only the filthy Republicans and the corrupt Washington system holding him back, seems to be working. But should it? In this week’s Spectator, I ask whether the Obama administration can really get away portraying the President as the ‘fair shake’ candidate. His record is much dirtier than his admirers like to admit. Here’s a snippet for CoffeeHousers:

‘The Obama administration has repeatedly, at times scandalously, failed to practise what it preaches.