Keller @ Large: We Have More Power To Effect Change Than Any President

BOSTON (CBS) - You knew it had to happen sooner or later, and now it has.

A new CNN poll shows President Obama is just as unpopular as former President George W. Bush, both pulling a 51-percent unfavorability rating.

It's been quite a fall for the current president, who had a 78-percent favorable rating when he won the job in 2008. But that's the way it goes when you're president of the United States.

When you get elected, all shiny and new, you're the refreshing change the nation has been craving. Your inspirational rhetoric has yet to turn turgid and annoying.

None of your spiffy campaign promises have been broken under the pressure of reality.

Fast forward a few years, and if you're lucky, the worst thing most Americans are saying about you is that you're a "disappointment."

And no wonder.

For reasons that escape me, we put such disproportionate focus on the president that there's no way he – or, eventually, she – can avoid disappointing us.

Maybe that's a result of the endless campaign cycle, and the craven work of the political image-makers who do their best to trick us into thinking our chosen candidate is the new messiah.

But we really shouldn't be pointing the finger anywhere but at the mirror. We as individuals and collectively have far more power to effect positive change in our lives than any president has ever had.

If you bet your faith elsewhere, you're making a sucker bet.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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