Say what you like about Barack Obama, but never underestimate him.
Just when the pundits were writing him off after the mid term debacle, he comes back with a fourth and long touchdown and passes major legislation.
Getting the Bush tax cuts bill through the House and Senate, passing 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' repeal and pushing hard on other legislative priorities rewrites the book on Obama.
Instead of disengaged liberal we may need to call him Mr. in the Middle.
His ability to pass legislation has never been doubted -- he passed the greatest reform of health care since Medicare.
However, post election, he was widely written off as unable to work with Republicans because he was too far to the left.
He has quickly scuppered that Washington truth.
Opinion polls in the next few weeks will show his popularity returning in my opinion.
Americans desperately want politicians to work together and to pass legislation that helps them in these troubled times.
Obama has now proven he can work with Republicans to make that happen.
It is far more difficult in this era of prying cameras and 24 hour news coverage to pass legislation.
In the old days, the smoke filled rooms and old boy network sufficed.
Now you have to worry every moment about leaks or finding the Tea Party, The New York Times or Fox News on your tail.
Obama may well be the leader who turns all that to his advantage.
He has shown an extraordinary sense of coolness and detachment and rarely if ever appears to be hot and bothered by the latest controversy.
It allows him to make his move to the center with far less rancor than might have been the case if he had been using the bully pulpit to hammer Republicans.
2012 re-election anyone?
16 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.maloney | Jan 22, 2011, 01:56 PM EST
No trex..you would rather rewrite history yourself.
rexnine | Jan 22, 2011, 01:55 AM EST
"However, post election, he was widely written off as unable to work with Republicans because he was too far to the left." This assertion by P.R. is Blatentley false and misleading. In Fact Much of the Health care legislation that was eventually passed was, in-fact, originally proposed by John McCain and other republicans, Including the individual mandate and the Interstate pool for consumers..! I am So sick and Tired of the right wing attempting to re-wright history!! The Fact is that No republican will ever support Obama..just like they never supported Clinton. Clinton Passed the Omnibus bill that ended up giving our country a surplus revenue stream without a single vote from a republican in 1993. And ever since then, the republicans have driven this country I love down. And I wont have Some Hack Political Blogger like PatricK Roberts trying to re-wright history!
Advocate | Jan 10, 2011, 10:11 AM EST
Read Deut. 17:15 and 28:43 and you will indeed understand 'change'. Consider the few words carefully... Then Pray... Thank you
Advocate | Jan 10, 2011, 10:10 AM EST
Everything He does is evil! Who do YOU REALLY THINK wrote the Healthcare Bill --- Obama? It's some 22,000 pages of legalize! HE did NOT write this thing; perhaps his Socialist Puppet-Masters?
Towngate | Jan 01, 2011, 04:06 PM EST
He should stand right in the middle - that way, it won't hurt when he drops through the trapdoor!
peterson | Dec 29, 2010, 05:31 PM EST
Obama is by far the worst President the U.S.has ever had. His campaign was a series of lies and his left wing Congress has been plagued with bribery and corruption to get legislation passed. The Republicans have now taken over Congress and with the help of the "Tea Party", will vote the rest out of power in 2012.
DennisQ | Dec 21, 2010, 05:31 AM EST
Obama's a shoo-in against anybody the Republicans are likely to nominate. This will become clearer as we approach the 2012 election, and Republicans will end up with a no-chance extremist as their nominee.
I challenge any Republican who beleives Obama's a one-termer to name the candidate who's going to defeat him. They can't, because the pool of Republican candidates is top-heavy with people who haven't held office in many years. These folks aren't working politicians anymore, they're celebrities. Call them Paris Hilton with a portfolio, but they're not going to live in the White House.
As the economy improves, look for Obama to move towards the left, not the right. He knows about his political debts, and he'll start paying them off as soon as it's safe to do so. Right now with so many people out of work, Obama can't afford getting into hissy fits. But look out, GOP! This guy knows how to win.
adrienrain | Dec 20, 2010, 07:22 PM EST
You mean he's abandoning the Right wing? For shame! Is there no one he will be true to?
allentown | Dec 20, 2010, 04:51 PM EST
The Left are kneeling and yielding. All they have is Obama and a weakened Reid in 2011.
seamusmoore | Dec 20, 2010, 02:18 PM EST
katiemac I think I witnessed a gathering of "the true left" last February when I went to the premiere of a documentary about Daniel Ellsburg. At the Q&A session, someone asked this question: Do you feel that the Washington Post and NY TImes are now beating the drums for war with Iran the way they did for war with Iraq back in 2002-3? It was a surreal experience, like I had suddenly been transported to another planet.
Monsoonman | Dec 20, 2010, 11:55 AM EST
It's not what is best for his country, it is what is best for him. A true narcissist, it's all about him.
JBRAFTREE | Dec 20, 2010, 11:39 AM EST
He may very well be setting the scene for his re-election, but, thankfully, he's only a one-termer!!!
jdi2269 | Dec 20, 2010, 11:10 AM EST
The american people now realize electing a community organizer with no business experience is a disaster. His stimulus program was a waste of trillions of dollars. Hussein Barrack Obama is "one and done"....thank god!
diannerae | Dec 20, 2010, 10:45 AM EST
I don't know why he would want to run again. Everything he has wanted to do has been fought against. I think saying you want your president to fail is un-American. I did not like Bush at all but I never wished him to fail just to do better:)
colkelley | Dec 20, 2010, 09:36 AM EST
His own party, the remaining members of which in the House and Senate are the more radical members, is already working to sabotage any hint at cooperation. If the new Republican members of the House and Senate follow through on campaign promises 2012 will see even fewer Dems in Washington and IF the Republicans can muster a plausible candidate there will be a one-term "2nd Jimmy Carter" named Obama.
seamusmoore | Dec 20, 2010, 08:18 AM EST
"Moving to the center"? What choice did he have after the election? Obama's hopes on re-election rest solely on the economy; remember the '92 Clinton mantra of James Carville: "it's the economy, STUPID! His support of the Bush tax cuts extension exposes the phony class warfare rhetoric of the Democrats. If Obama had let tax rates rise, particularly the cap gains rate, he would have sunk his re-election hopes. As for claims as to what these "cuts" will cost in lost tax revenue, US tax receipts rose from 1.78 trillion in 2003 to 2.56 trillion in 2007 (taxpolicycenter.org). Obama's biggest hurdle to re-election will come from his increasingly disillusioned left (after all, he was their messiah of "hope" and "change")who feel abandoned: gitmo still open, Afganistan escalated, tax cuts extended, no public option in Obamacare)among others. Obama will have to track far left in the 2012 Democratic primary, then he won't look so centrist. DADT repeal is a move to the center