President Obama is said to be a very smart person.

It’s obvious he put together one of the best-organized political campaigns of any U.S. president.

He knew how to be a long-shot candidate and end up beating his own party’s most powerful political personality.

His campaign was lauded as a well-oiled machine-like powerhouse that made sure to minimize mistakes.

He was so well organized he and his staffers raised record-shattering amounts of money. Likewise, he mobilized more volunteer help than any previous presidential candidate.

And he and his campaign staff hammered away on the errors and mistakes they thought Bush had made during his eight years, along with what they claimed were actions cloaked in secrecy and a lack of transparency for the public.

This being the case, he and his top aides had to be developing an airtight plan on how to prepare for their move into the Oval Office to make sure they didn’t fall into any traps or commit any gaffes. They had from early November until Jan. 20 to put their plans together and select the individuals to implement Obama’s blueprint.

Obama hammered home the point he would not tolerate waste and that he would go over budget proposals and expenditures line by line to eliminate waste and earmarks.

With all the expertise, planning and determination not to make any mistakes, what has happened? So much was expected, that his administration would be one of openness, efficiency and change.

The current situation in Washington makes members of the Obama inner circle and appointees, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd and even Vice President Joe Biden, look like a group of undisciplined gunfighters arranged in a circle shooting at one another.

Obama and his inner circle had been planning on how he would enter the presidency, whom he would appoint to senior positions, his Cabinet members and what programs or legislation he would seek to change as soon as he took office as the most powerful leader in the free world.

He was going to conduct a blitz-type initiative, calling for quick action by the House and Senate, both under Democratic control, and he would wow the country with his vision, call for major changes and pursue his almost-magical oratory.

Now it appears some of the wheels have come off his wagon.

He didn’t do anything with a massive spending bill filled with more than 8,000 earmarks with high pork content. He pledged to go over such bills “line by line,” but this proved to be a hollow campaign ploy.

He pledged to give lawmakers five days to study and examine the bailout measure that called for record spending. As it turned out, there was little time for lawmakers to read the complete bill before it was jammed through Congress, with Obama and his aides saying it was the only way to avoid a national economic disaster.

An even larger subsequent spending bill was presented to Congress, and again, few, if any, legislators know all that is in this bill. The self-inflicted wounds continue with senators such as the hypocritical Chris Dodd engaged in double-talk, others trying to deflect blame for their own obvious oversights, their complicity in secret, behind-the scenes meetings to alter certain parts of the bailout effort and the toadying by these lawmakers to please Obama.

As one of Obama’s top advisers said soon after the election, it was important to seize the fragile economic condition of this country as a time to push and achieve legislation that would be much more difficult to attain in normal times.

With rising unemployment, the housing crisis, the nation’s automakers on the ropes, the stock market falling and the savings of millions of Americans in free-fall, Obama set out to “change” America according to his own image and social and economic philosophy.

He and his aides realized they had to pull this off as quickly as possible before people started asking questions or suggesting he was moving too fast.

Obama’s campaign was noted for its discipline and control, and yet, his wagon has gone off track. This has happened even though he tries to blame most of his troubles on what he “inherited” from the Bush administration. His party controls Congress now and controlled Congress during the last two years of the Bush presidency. They, too, were a major part of the “past eight years.”

The finger-pointing within his own party, the arrogance of Democratic leaders such as Barney Frank, the secrecy and failure of those in positions to exercise the control and oversight with which they were entrusted, all give interested and concerned observers reason to question what is going on within the Obama organization. Even staunch Democrats are asking questions.

Granted, Obama has been in the White House just over two months, and some say it is wrong to make judgments at this time. Give the man some time, they say; every president has made mistakes.

Nevertheless, Obama and/or his hand-picked appointees and congressional leaders already have behaved in a manner that raises serious questions.

Was Obama a truly superior presidential candidate with precise planning and superb execution but perhaps an officeholder who isn’t able to measure up to his campaign promises and expectations? How much control does he have over his own party?

Time will tell, but what are the consequences for the country?