Lame Duck or Mighty Duck?
As the election results sink in, I keep wondering if the fact that Obama cannot be voted out of office will affect his behavior or results. And what of the opposition? I know their 2014 campaign started Tuesday night, but how will they play it? Obama has nothing to do but govern, and nothing to lose.
This might change the dynamic and loosen the stalemate, in a good way. I could be wrong, but it is possible. The Democrats have to change their tactics of Obama's first term to make it happen. We accompished some things, but the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and Dodd Frank ate up huge chunks of time, and the implementation of both is still underway. Though Obama spoke of raising the top tax rate in his campaign, the can was kicked down the road. Allowing the Bush tax cuts to run their course until 2010 ate up half the first term, and the extension filled the rest. When the 2010 elections hit, it could be made to look like nothing was getting done.
Obama is in a position to make a stance. I don't know if he'll do it, but we'll see. The stage is set. He inherits a short deadline on the tax bill, and more clout than he would have if he was on the way out. The republicans have the nagging nuisance of what the people want conflicting with their aims, and fresh in everyone's mind. Since there will be no more campaign slogans, let's make the last one count, forward. The republicans retreated briefly in 2008 but we never advanced and lost the ground. This time, let's turn our ideals into laws.
= new reply since forum marked as read
