Surprise?

Lately I'm reading a lot of stuff saying people are worried that Mr. Obama doesn't have what it takes. He's lost some allies, and conservative turncoats are again turning coats, leaving him behind.

A lot of liberal writers are surprised by the mild Obama backlash. Howard Fineman is worried that Obama appears to be in over his head. Gone are the whispers of the "smoothest transition ever," as more executive appointments end up under the wheels. All of the hope and change talk has been replaced by doom and gloom, while spending skyrockets and the markets tank.

I ask: why the surprise?

Who, after all, is in the White House? A very liberal junior senator from a politically corrupt state, whose experience at being the boss of anything is exactly zero. He was allowed to skate through the election process on a rhetorical platform (did anyone ask what the American people should be hoping for, or changing to?). This amateur politician was then handed the keys to the biggest piggy bank in the world. Now people are wondering why he's disorganized as hell and spending like mad. Surprise, surprise.