On himself, that is.
He thought he had won last Wednesday’s debate until aides broke the bad news to him.
But really, is that so surprising? This is the president who had given himself a “good, solid B-plus” when Oprah Winfrey asked him how he was doing back in December of 2009. He might have done well to give himself an “incomplete” at the time, but instead he:
…credited his administration with getting the economy on track, winding down the Iraq war and making the right call for a temporary surge in Afghanistan.
He also said America has “reset” its prestige in the world and made progress toward halting development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.
Passage of health care reform would boost his grade to an A-, he said.
Funny thing, though, he’s extended the grading deadline over and over on the economy, and still qualifies himself for an “incomplete” there:
In a 2012 interview with ABC’s the View, Obama refused to give himself a letter grade other than “still incomplete.”
In a 2011 interview with Jake Tapper, Obama said that he would only give himself a “incomplete” because “the work that we started is not yet done, but the fact is that the American people are rightly frustrated over what they see as a system in which responsibility is not always rewarded, where people who have done the right thing all their lives still seem to be struggling, that sense that the American dream is slipping away.”
And in a 2010 interview with CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” Obama also gave himself an incomplete.
That’s a reversal on his original projection for the grading deadline:
I’m making light of this somewhat, but there’s really nothing funny about it. Obama’s over-valuation of his own abilities, and his near-disconnect with the reality of his non-accomplishments, is pathological. That wouldn’t be a problem for anyone but himself and his family if it weren’t for the fact that he’s president, and his hubris has gotten us all into trouble. If he is re-elected, that trouble will deepen.
But getting back to the debate, I wonder if his aides have managed to impress on him that he needs to do a bit more work this time. I’m sure he was angry when he listened to some of the post-debate moaning and groaning on the left, especially since he’s used to basking in their praise. It may have been a rude awakening for him.
On the other hand, narcissists are somewhat resistant to rude awakenings. They tend to blame others for their own errors. What’s more, to prepare for his next debate, some hard work will be involved on Obama’s part. Perhaps the desire to show Romney (whom he seems to hate) who’s boss next time will motivate him. Perhaps not.
[NOTE: And then there’s the Dunning-Kruger effect (hat tip: Ace):
The Dunning”“Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.
Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. As Kruger and Dunning conclude, “the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others.”
Obama never, never, never makes the error of assuming others are more competent than they are. Au contraire.]
