Obama's former mentor criticises his 'complacent administration'

Washington, Feb 1(ANI): US President Barack Obama's former professor at Harvard Law School, Chris Edley, has criticised him for having a 'complacent administration', claiming it to be too reliant on his personal charm.

"What I fear is that having made history, having won a Nobel Prize, having been celebrated around the world, a measure of complacency may have set in," The Times quoted Professor Edley, as saying.

"I don't mean that the effort is not there, but that the discipline of self-criticism has perhaps faded," he added.

Professor Edley, who worked in the Clinton and Carter Administrations, added: "I wouldn't give [Obama] as high 'A' grade as President as I gave him when he was my student. I know he can do better."

He also criticised Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the second-most powerful figure in the White House, who has been pilloried by liberals for appearing to undermine President's healthcare reforms since the loss of a crucial Senate seat to the Republicans.

"You're not going to reinvent Barack into somebody who delights in pummelling a policy opponent, so his staff need to do that for him. And, as far as one can tell from the outside, that is precisely what Rahm Emanuel has failed to do," he said.

When asked what he would say if given a similar opportunity one year into the Obama Presidency, Professor Edley lamented the failure of the White House to force Congress into line, as President Lyndon Johnson would have done.

"You have to be his inner LBJ, the leader who twists arms past their breaking point and is prepared to make some enemies in order to make some progress," he said.

He also fears that Obama's best chance to deliver the change he promised may have been wasted.

"The White House was overly dependent on the President's personality as an instrument of persuasion, and if your only advocacy tool is charm you should expect some pretty strong headwinds," Professor Edley said. (ANI)