Obama's Biggest Problem: He's a Bystander

Remember when House Republicans agreed to sue President Obama, because they accused him of abusing his authority? Well that lawsuit hasn't gone anywhere since, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. It's no wonder Republicans aren't in a hurry, he writes, because "the real problem with Obama is not overreach but his tendency to be hands-off." Milbank finds himself in the unusual spot of agreeing with conservative Charles Krauthammer, who bemoaned Obama's "bewildered-bystander pose" on everything from Ebola to ISIS in a recent Post column.

Ebola, in particular, has united conservatives in complaining about a void of leadership from the White House. Obama remains as "dispassionate" as ever in public as he assesses the problem, writes Milbank, but the public seems to want a decisive leader rather than a law professor in situations like this. "Ebola is doing many horrible things to humanity, but at least it has caused conservatives to join this consensus," concludes Milbank. "Obama’s flaw is not that he abuses his power, but that he uses it too little." Click for his full column. (More President Obama stories.)