Obama's "bratty, tantrum-prone child" strategy
He's not hoping that we'll reward him for his reasonableness -- just that they'll punish his childish opponents
By Steve Kornacki
Salon.com
It's not surprising that President Obama is getting ready to launch a new job creation push. The economy is showing virtually no signs of life, his approval rating is falling to new lows, and with the next election just over a year away, his chances of being a one-termer are increasing with every piece of bad economic news. So sometime next week, Obama will unveil his plan in a prime-time speech, although some hints of what he may propose are now starting to leak out.
What would be surprising -- shocking, actually -- is if his push resulted in any meaningful jobs legislation being enacted. The Republicans who control Congress answer to a party base that is fanatically opposed to Obama and convinced that just one more cent in government spending could destroy the country. Obviously, this means no major new job-creating investments in, say, infrastructure are on the horizon. But it also means that House Republicans will fight Obama even if he proposes ideas that they have previously supported. We're already seeing this, with the GOP scrambling to invent reasons not to extend payroll tax cuts that are on the verge of expiring. Even if Obama and House Republicans ultimately agree on some kind of package, there's no reason to think it will have any significant impact on the economy between now and Election Day 2012.
So what's the point of even trying, then?
The answer has to do with Obama's much-discussed "adult in the room" strategy, which was on display in the recent debt ceiling impasse. The idea is that Obama can score points with swing voters by showing a willingness to compromise with Republicans -- and that if the GOP then rebuffs him, he'll only end up looking more reasonable.
(More here.)
By Steve Kornacki
Salon.com
It's not surprising that President Obama is getting ready to launch a new job creation push. The economy is showing virtually no signs of life, his approval rating is falling to new lows, and with the next election just over a year away, his chances of being a one-termer are increasing with every piece of bad economic news. So sometime next week, Obama will unveil his plan in a prime-time speech, although some hints of what he may propose are now starting to leak out.
What would be surprising -- shocking, actually -- is if his push resulted in any meaningful jobs legislation being enacted. The Republicans who control Congress answer to a party base that is fanatically opposed to Obama and convinced that just one more cent in government spending could destroy the country. Obviously, this means no major new job-creating investments in, say, infrastructure are on the horizon. But it also means that House Republicans will fight Obama even if he proposes ideas that they have previously supported. We're already seeing this, with the GOP scrambling to invent reasons not to extend payroll tax cuts that are on the verge of expiring. Even if Obama and House Republicans ultimately agree on some kind of package, there's no reason to think it will have any significant impact on the economy between now and Election Day 2012.
So what's the point of even trying, then?
The answer has to do with Obama's much-discussed "adult in the room" strategy, which was on display in the recent debt ceiling impasse. The idea is that Obama can score points with swing voters by showing a willingness to compromise with Republicans -- and that if the GOP then rebuffs him, he'll only end up looking more reasonable.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home