COMMENTARY | There are some who would argue President Barack Obama's mistakes are old news, not big news at all. However, that he admits to them is big news.
Is that bad?
The caption is, "Obama admits to making mistakes" on a Yahoo! News blog posted Thursday. A headline denotes something newsworthy that we should pay attention to. It is a sad commentary on what is expected of American leaders to take issue with the admission of mistakes.
In this election year, everybody's mistakes are fair game. Newt Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney for his mistakes, and Romney counter-attacks. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum attack Gingrich and Romney. They all attack Obama. Each rebuttal gives lip service to mistakes or denies that they were made. Romney defends his handling of Bain Capital. Gingrich appears ashamed of his infidelity while married to his former mistress.
Obama's mistakes are available for public evaluation. His tense moments with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, described by ABC News, reveal that what he has perceived as "cordial" was not so for Brewer. The governor asserts Obama's treatment of her at a meeting that occurred in the past was condescending.
What if the president takes the time to really listen to Brewer and clear up the misperception? What if he looks at the blog post on CNN called "Obama's Five Big Mistakes," examine it for validity, then be articulate about correcting these mistakes?
What if Romney, Gingrich, Paul and Santorum took the position that they make mistakes and made public their process of examining and correcting these?
The problem with refusing to acknowledge a mistake is that as long as a mistake is defended it is not a mistake and can't be corrected. This is how leaders become committed to ideas that over time are revealed as mistakes.
If any of Romney's actions at Bain Capital were mistakes, he will repeat them unless he acknowledges them. Gingrich has acknowledged his marital mistakes in the hopes that by doing so he will convince voters that he has changed. This is good strategy, and appears to be working.
The Vietnam War was judged by many as a mistake. The question of whether it was or not was asked on Yahoo!, and voters on Yahoo! Answers judged the answer "No, it was not a good idea" as the best. Some believe it was not a mistake. Regardless of which was true, our leaders remained committed to the war for years and did not consider publicly that it was a mistake. Doing so might have meant we did it differently if at all, and perhaps the cost in human lives would not have been so appalling.
It would be extraordinary to see a headline that reads: "All the 2012 presidential candidates are admitting their mistakes."
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