President Obama, now facing the consequences of automatic spending cuts and the complications they raise for his broader domestic agenda, is taking the most specific steps of his administration in an attempt to ensure the election of a DemocraticÂ-controlled Congress in two years."What I can't do is force Congress to do the right thing," Obama told reporters at the White House on Friday after a fruitless meeting with Republican leaders to avert the country's latest fiscal crisis, known as the sequester. "The American people may have the capacity to do that."
They seem to be unable to reach you, except for the 47%.
Obama, fresh off his November reelection, began almost at once executing plans to win back the House in 2014, which he and his advisers believe will be crucial to the outcome of his second term and to his legacy as president.
I wonder why they didn't try to win back the House in 2012? [snigger]
He is doing so by trying to articulate for the American electorate his own feelings -- an exasperation with an opposition party that blocks even the most politically popular elements of his agenda.
Seems like he did that in 2008, 2010, and 2012. Maybe the fourth time is the charm?
Obama has committed to raising money for fellow Democrats, agreed to help recruit viable candidates, and launched a political nonprofit group dedicated to furthering his agenda and that of his congressional allies. The goal is to flip the Republican-held House back to Democratic control, allowing Obama to push forward with a progressive agenda on gun control, immigration, climate change and the economy during his final two years in office, according to congressional Democrats, strategists and others familiar with Obama's thinking.
His best chance for that was 2008-2010. What did he do then? Oh, yeah. I remember now. Mortally wound the health care system.
This approach marks a significant shift in the way Obama has worked with a divided Congress. He has compromised and badgered, but rarely -- and never so early -- campaigned to change its composition.
Compromised, eh? In case you didn't guess, this is the WaPo, but not Bob Woodward.
"If 2012 was a referendum on President Obama, then 2014 will be a referendum on the tea party Congress," Israel said. "And the president and House Democrats are joined at the hip on this."
In his State of the Union address last month, Obama outlined an agenda that called for gun control measures, immigration legislation, a hike in the minimum wage and a new focus on climate change, among other items that
So far, though, most of the proposals have little traction in the Republican-controlled House.
Nobody seems to remember who elected all those House members. Not Klingons, but citizens, citizens outside the Beltway.
Obama's decision to squarely blame the opposition for across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester has also generated little goodwill across the aisle.
That is among the risks of Obama's strategy to define the differences between his agenda and the Republicans': He could be seen as the kind of partisan politician he once deplored, and he is likely to have little to show for it in terms of legislative achievements.In some ways, Obama is flipping the traditional script for Âsecond-term presidents. Most have about two years to secure a domestic agenda before lame-duck status sets in. But Obama is laying out an argument for a new Congress that, if successful, could give him his last two years in office to cement his legacy.
I saved the best news for last -
Of all the presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt, only Bill Clinton picked up House seats for his party in the midterm election of his second term . His approval rating on the eve of the 1998 contest was 65 percent, 14 points above Obama's current public standing.
| From your keyboard to God's ear, Bobby. |