Obama: waiting on Ghaddafi
Whether the current "kinetic action" succeeds or fails politically depends on something outside Obama's control: whether Ghaddafi leaves or is killed by rebels.
Obama has already established that it is not our policy to "force" Ghaddafi out or try to kill him.
If the dictator holds out, nothing really changes, and Obama either has to walk into the quagmire to keep Ghaddafi from re-establishing control, or wind up looking stupid.
If Ghaddafi goes into exile, or is killed by Libyans, Obama will have a victory party that will last weeks. At least until we find out who or what Ghaddafi's successors are (but then that's the chance you always take with a regime change).
So now, we wait.