Obama Looks 'Snakebit'

Bad news for President Obama: "He's starting to look snakebit," writes Peggy Noonan, who sees similarities in the plight of Jimmy Carter. It's not Obama's fault the oil rig blew, just as it wasn't Carter's fault that Americans got kidnapped in Iran. No matter. Carter botched the handling of his crisis, just as Obama is fumbling in the Gulf.

His oratory failed to save him this time, putting another chink in his "mystique," Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal. "Obama is starting to look unlucky, and—file this under Mysteries of Leadership—that is dangerous for him because Americans get nervous when they have a snakebit president. They want presidents on whom the sun shines." The big question is how Obama reacts to all this. If he starts doubting "his own moves and instincts," he's in real trouble. (More President Obama stories.)