Open Letter to President Barack Obama On Leadership

Dear Mr. President:

You are the elected leader of our country. However, your current leadership style will not produce the results we need.

In order to lead, you have to be in town, in the room, interacting directly with those you are trying to influence.

John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, doesn't live in Michigan, Florida, or Virginia. He is from Ohio. Mitch McConnell,  the Republican Minority Leader of the Senate, is from Kentucky.  If you want to have serious discussions on solving the fiscal crisis you must spend time with them.

If you insist leaving town on Air Force One,  you should fly to their home states. Meet them at a locally owned coffee shop. Discuss your agreements, define and seek compromise on issues where you are far apart. Talking to the media, and people in states where you are liked, accomplishes nothing.

Mr. President, you have to be in the room. You have to lead by example, start making the phone calls you should have been making daily since the first of January, send letters, invite the decision makers to the White House, on a regular basis. Listen, talk, act, and compromise.

You are not right all the time. Speaker Boehner and Senator McConnell are not wrong all the time.

You were elected to lead us. You are intelligent, articulate, passionate, and compassionate. You have great potential. But none of that potential will produce results, until you learn how to lead.

I am available to help.

Sincerely,
Rick Knobe
- A concerned and frustrated citizen and taxpayer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota