President Obama will commence his second term on Monday with none of the massive expectations that attended his first inaugural.
Back then it would hardly have surprised many of his most ardent supporters if he walked on water on his way to the podium. Expectations were set way too high for the son of a Kenyan immigrant and an 18-year-old unmarried mother whose inspiring life story had seen him end up in the most important job of all.
Four tough and bitter years followed, as did a hard re-election campaign that saw Obama win comfortably in the end over Mitt Romney, but presiding over a deeply divided country.
Few presidents entering office encountered such uphill conditions as Obama did with the American economy in freefall and two wars being waged on his watch. He did a decent job given those circumstances, passed a landmark health bill and stabilized the economy as well as ending American involvement in Iraq and setting a date for the Afghanistan departure.
So in some ways Obama begins his second term able to set his own agenda for the first time. He has made it clear that there will be bigger and bolder steps on this occasion, and he is far less inclined to endure the weekly dog fights with Republicans that characterized his first term.
In his press conference on Monday, he made the basic point that he won the election, that elections have consequences and that the GOP needed to realize that.
He has signaled a welcome determination to attack issues such as gun control and immigration, which are crying out for sensible legislation. There is encouraging news on immigration which will be of special interest to the Irish.
Meetings have been held with moderate GOP senators to frame a bill that might have a chance of passage after the do-nothing congresses of recent times. The GOP knows that its weakness with the Hispanic vote imperils any hopes they may have in future to win the White House.
At least at an intellectual level they do, but at a visceral level there still seems a deep strain of nativism especially in the House, and a determination to punish rather than legislate on immigration.
That would be a huge blunder, but so many of the House members on the Republican side care little for national issues and just want to ensure that they cannot be attacked from the right in a primary.
Whatever immigration bill is put on the floor, it needs to have an Irish dimension that will ensure that both our undocumented issue is resolved and that the potential for future flow is there.
You can be guaranteed that every other lobby group will have input into the immigration bill, which makes it imperative that the Irish lobby does too.
Obama understands clearly that a bill needs to be moved now, early in his second term if there is to be any chance of success. The critical part of the bill is the dynamic with House Republicans who can easily block his best efforts no matter what, but who will do significant damage to the party’s attempts to woo back a key Hispanic constituency.
A Democrat running for the White House now with Hispanics voting for him or her in similar numbers as they did for Obama has a guaranteed 240 electoral votes in their pocket, just 31 shy of a victory.
Such realities will not be lost on the GOP surely, but the party has made itself so resistant to change in recent times that they may well be.
Obama commences his second term with the best wishes of all decent Americans for success. It is no easy task he taken on, but it is less of a burden than what he faced in his first four years. We should all wish him well.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Smyrnian | Jan 19, 2013, 09:49 AM EST
I am sure by now even the lefties have noticed their dwindling take home pay. Borrow, tax, borrow more, spend, tax more and don't forget we owe the Chinese trillions and we are borrowing more from them so that we can pay them for the interest on the other loans. Great!
EphraimKibbey | Jan 19, 2013, 12:50 AM EST
He was reelected by a large majority of the popular vote and an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College. Get over it people!!! It is time to start doing great things again, American things, together, like we used to. Pouting and blaming him for everything has only prolonged the recession for us all and lost the GOP an election.
EphraimKibbey | Jan 19, 2013, 12:47 AM EST
The housing market is up 12% led by a substantial increase in the million dollar and above price range so I guess the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the uber-rich hasn't crimped their style all that much. The stock market is climbing back toward pre-crash levels so I guess that having Elizabeth Warren on the Senate Finance Committee hasn't got Wall Street all that scared. Since, for the last four years, people kept telling me that government CAN'T create jobs, I guess we can't blame it now for NOT creating them - RIGHT - or are you really closet Keynesians?
EphraimKibbey | Jan 19, 2013, 12:42 AM EST
I do not know ANYONE who was shocked about the return of the Social Security payroll tax. Even Fox covered it. "We can't keep depleting the Social Security Trust Fund" so said my Republican friends. And, besides, it was an "Obama" tax cut not a REAL one like W.'s. I only wish they had fought as vigorously when W. "borrowed" the two trillion from it to balance his "REAL" tax cuts. Or didn't you know that we were enjoying our tax cuts at the expense of our retirement? Don't worry, the all-knowing Cheney said that deficits never matter and we all know how right he was about everything else that he said.
Smyrnian | Jan 18, 2013, 10:00 AM EST
Obama part 2 will be the same as Obama part 1: more taxes and more borrowing from the Chinese so that we can afford to pay back the Chinese. Nice. Worst president in US history. People across the country are shocked to see their paychecks shrunk when the got paid for the first time in 2013 last week. Taxes. Taxes. Taxes.
Smyrnian | Jan 18, 2013, 07:09 AM EST
Because the socialist agenda comes first. It is the single objective if this "administration".
anglo-norman | Jan 17, 2013, 11:42 PM EST
Of course the Economy will take care of itself Barack. Why can't the Irish see through this joker?
pilib04 | Jan 17, 2013, 09:45 PM EST
What a fantastic President we have in Barack Obama and a great first lady in Michelle. The fact that Barack is a native of Ireland explains a lot about the way he is able to communicate to us. Two great victories, four years apart. You give it them, son of Moneygall, County Offaly. Is feidir linn.
MegK311 | Jan 17, 2013, 05:50 PM EST
Eschetic, what a load of BULL you wrote. You need to get your head out of the sand. Obama is the worst President we have ever had. I would like to see had he needs to do something to get people in this country back to work. I know people who have been out of work for over 4 years.
Eschetic | Jan 17, 2013, 11:53 AM EST
A not entirely unbiased, but ultimately fair account. With the possible exception of Bill Clinton, no U.S. President since Andrew Johnson has ever faced such unreasoning, obstructionist opposition, with the stated intention of preventing ANY constructive action by the government from what was once a constructive opposition party. In the context of the time, it was close to miraculous how hard this president worked to "reach across the aisle" to forge effective compromises and enact the first effective healthcare reform since the institution of Medicare. We can only hope that the majority of Americans who want their government to WORK and turned out a surprising number of extremists from Congress while decisively re-electing the most moderate President since Eisenhower, will keep their eye on the ball and (if the President's programs continue to be as positive as they have so far) demand that the Congress work with him to pass and implement them. It is a lot to ask when we see how many in that congress felt it was preferable to crash the economy rather than let this President seem successful, and how many think possession of assault rifles is a God-given right (a position the Founding Fathers and authors of the Second Amendment to the Constitution would have found ludicrous), but it can be done.
PhlutiePhan | Jan 17, 2013, 11:45 AM EST
BHO is one "slique" puppy. Every move is woven to increase his socialist agenda.