Obama has been criticized for seeming disconnected from the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico . In a time of crisis , people want `` powerful rhetorical leadership , '' presidential historian says . `` I 've seen rage from him . He's not going to be able to get away with that if he wants to win back voters who are angry about his handling of this issue and other issues like it. " Brinkley : The craving for such crisis leadership from Obama is `` because he 's so capable of it ''
Obama has been criticized for seeming disconnected from the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico . In a time of crisis , people want `` powerful rhetorical leadership , '' presidential historian says . `` I 've seen rage from him . I have , '' White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says . Brinkley : The craving for such crisis leadership from Obama is `` because he 's so capable of it ''