Even Peggy Noonan having doubts

There is a certain brand of so-called conservative who has fallen for the debonair performances of the current occupant of the White House. These conservatives are part of Washington's elites. Though they tend to fall under the -R- category, they are still invited to all the right parties, which is part of Washington's appeal. They went to the right schools (unlike Sarah Palin), they are from *good* families (unlike Sarah Palin), and they speak without dropping their g's (unlike Sarah Palin) and they have held positions of authority in consequential administrations. Even though they might be casually determined to be -R-s, they are still part of the new ruling class.

Peggy Noonan has fallen into that category of recent years, along with Frum and Brooks. That's why this article in the WSJ is somewhat telling. She's monitoring The One's constant bowing and its effect on the electorate:

It is true that Mr. Obama often seems not to have a firm grasp of—or respect for—protocol, of what has been done before and why, and of what divergence from the traditional might imply. And it is true that his political timing was unfortunate. When a great nation is feeling confident and strong, a surprising presidential bow might seem gracious. When it is feeling anxious, a bow will seem obsequious.

The Obama bowing pictures are becoming iconic not for those reasons, however, but because they express a growing political perception, and that is that there is something amateurish about this presidency, something too ad hoc and highly personalized about it, something . . . incompetent, at least in its first year.