CNN Clip: Grading Obama's First 100 Days

I appeared on CNN this weekend to grade President Obama's first 100 days with anchor Don Lemon, White House correspondent Ed Henry and former Bush domestic adviser Ron Christie. You can watch the clip here [1].

On Iraq, I gave Obama an A- for seeming to stick pretty closely to his campaign promises, and on Afghanistan I didn't give him a grade because we don't yet know how well he's defined the mission, and whether he is taking precautions not to get bogged down there.

On the economy, I gave Obama a B+, and more specifically, an A on his budget/spending plans, and a B- on his policies towards Wall Street. Compared to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich [2]* who gave Obama a C- on the economy, I probably engaged in a little grade inflation. That grade inflation was motivated by two things: 1) a hope that the president will ultimately come around to far more sane policies than the no-strings-attached bailouts he's been pushing and 2) a hope that Democrats in Congress will push him to more progressive policies. Maybe I'm being too hopeful - I hope not (ha!).

Interestingly, Christie and I agree on a few things, though you'll see I don't just sit there when he cites Ronald Reagan as some icon of fiscal responsibility that Obama has to live up to. Last I checked, Reagan ran up some of the biggest deficits in contemporary history - so the idea that the GOP has any leg to stand on in terms of fiscal balance is absurd.

Watch the whole clip here [1].

* Listen to my radio interview yesterday with Reich here [3].