"Braced for a Shift in Congress, Obama Is Setting a New Agenda"

[applegrove]

Braced for a Shift in Congress, Obama Is Setting a New Agenda

By PETER BAKER and MICHAEL D. SHEAR at the New York Times

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/us/braced-for-a-shift-in-congress-obama-is-setting-a-new-agenda.html?referrer=&_r=1

"SNIP.........................


WASHINGTON — Whipsawed by events and facing another midterm electoral defeat, President Obama has directed his team to forge a policy agenda to regain momentum for his final two years in office even as some advisers urge that he rethink the way he governs.

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“There’s still lots of time to get things done,” said Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat described by some White House aides as one of the president’s closest allies in Congress. “I’m actually optimistic about what he can accomplish in these next two years.”

But as he sorts through the results this week, and in weeks to come if some Senate races go to runoff elections, Mr. Obama will also confront the question of whether he needs to change the way he operates. Even some of his strongest supporters are quietly recommending changes in his staff and a more open decision-making process.

Among advisers inside and outside the White House, there is a growing sense that Mr. Obama has closed himself off within a shrinking circle of aides. Some advisers who had been influential said they were no longer consulted as much. They worry that Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, has taken on too much himself.

“The circle is small,” said a former senior administration official who did not want to be identified discussing former colleagues. “Particularly if the Republicans take over, I would like him to expand that group and bring in some people from the outside.”


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[Skink]

1. He is not lisenting to stupid advisors.