DESPERATION DROVE OBAMA STUMBLE ON BERGDAHL

Why did Team Obama so badly botch the publicity of the release of five Islamist militant leaders in exchange for an accused Army deserter? The deal was sure to have been controversial, but might have, if done with humility and a low-key approach, engendered respect. Instead, the publicity blitz backfired on the administration. New Fox News polling explains how the struggling White House team ended up here, with Democrats in open rebellion and President Obama’s old rivals in Hillaryland taking potshots at his judgment? Desperation seems to be the thing. After a damaging turn with the revelation of widespread abuse of veterans at government hospitals and deepening concerns about the administration’s foreign policy setbacks in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the president’s previous strong suits are a shambles. The desire to return to the high point of his presidency, the killing of Usama bin Laden and subsequent Afghan drawdown, was understandable. But with a milky foreign policy speech at West Point, N.Y. and then the accused deserter PR fiasco, Obama finds himself in even worse position. But the poll shows us why he got greedy for a big win.