Dissatisfaction with Obama Isn't Enough

By Geoffrey P. Hunt

"Throw the bums out," the vernacular for incumbent fatigue, is the emotional response to the analytical dissatisfaction with the status quo. Yet a bum can survive if a challenger can't promise a compelling vision of the new order. Obama understands how this calculus of organization change applies to his re-election. He knows that this election is a referendum on his record, his stewardship of the resources under his command, and how well he mitigated inherited messes. Obama has been a failure on all three counts. No, he has been spectacularly dreadful -- his record, stewardship, and mitigation -- leaving a legacy of despair and divisiveness. Thus, Obama loses the referendum. And he knows it. It is no surprise, then, that Obama's campaign has been devoted to framing Mitt Romney -- and Paul Ryan -- as unfit to lead the nation. Nullification of Romney/Ryan legitimacy denies the challengers' standing to present a compelling vision of their new order. Students of organizational behavior know that resistance against or invitation to change is.... (Read Full Article)