Is Obama's Presidency over?

[pscot]

Well, maybe not. Here's Broder, the dean, writing Ronald Reagan's political obit back in 1982. The GOP lost 26 seats in the midterms giving the Democrats a 97 vote plurality in the House.

It is customary in the second January after each inaugural ceremony to write a midterm assessment of a presidency. That is what I set out to do. But it quickly became clear that in the case of Ronald Reagan, something else is required.

What we are witnessing this January is not the midpoint in the Reagan presidency, but its phase-out. "Reaganism," it is becoming increasingly clear, was a one- year phenomenon, lasting from his nomination in the summer of 1980 to the passage of his first budget and tax bills in the summer of 1981. What has been occurring ever since is an accelerating retreat from Reaganism, a process in which he is more spectator than leader.

One measure of that transition was last week's Gallup Poll showing Reagan trailing two leading Democrats in trial heats for the 1984 election. Former vice president Walter Mondale had a 52-40 percent lead, and Sen. John Glenn of Ohio had a 54-39 advantage./div]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/the_1982_election_and_pundit_f.html

[bluestateguy]

1. The Grand Sage of the Georgetown Cocktail Party crowd

:rofl:

[Teaser]

2. My Lord, was he ever NOT a complete toolbox?

Christ I lose IQ points just reading his slop.

[bif]

3. I think Obama is history.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Yup. His presidency has been historical.

[avaistheone1]

10. Historical?

The Nixon and Bush presidencies were historical too.

[avaistheone1]

11. .

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. ...

:rofl:

[Ikonoklast]

6. Of course you do.

Bless your heart.

[avaistheone1]

13. So does

Max Keiser an economic analyst who hasn't been wrong on any of his predictions yet.

[vaberella]

15. I think I smell pizza---pepperoni or mushroom I am left uncertain. n/t

[gkhouston]

7. I forget: which affliction has "word salad" as one of its symptoms?

'Cause I'm seeing words that are clearly English, but strung together in a completely nonsensical manner. :eyes:

[Divine Discontent]

8. a shame we didn't get a President John Glenn in 1984....

[old mark]

9. Hell, no! Just because I yell at him doesn't mean I won't vote for him!...

I want him in there for 8 years, and then another Democrat after him.


mark

[Raine1967]

12. Why are folks bashing Klein for quoting Broder? Did anyone read the whole thing?

Here is what Klein said:

This isn't meant as a knock on Broder. The column, which I've pasted below the fold, holds up fairly well in its criticism of Reagan's leadership style, if not in its prediction of Reagan's influence on the country's politics. I post it only to suggest that it's hard to know the mistakes that pundits (myself included) might or might not be making in their assessments of Obama, but it's pretty certain we're making some very big mistakes.

I'd also note that both Bill Clinton and Reagan lost a lot of seats in their first midterm elections (George W. Bush looked like he'd do the same until 9/11), so though Obama's performance and the unemployment rate are both elements feeding into November's outcome, there's a historical trend here worth keeping in mind. Since the Civil War, only two presidents have picked up seats in the midterm election following their inauguration. That says something about our system's ability to repel reformers and leave the public cynical about their champions, but that's a topic for another day.

[pscot]

14. And that was really the point

of this post; that and the fact that losing House seats doesn't necessarily cripple a president. After the '82 midterms House Dems outnumbered the GOP 269 to 166. Over the next 2 years they gave Reagan just about everything he wanted.

[Raine1967]

17. I thought so. It would behoove people

to actually read the OP's and the subsequent links sometimes. People were far too quick to throw Klein under the bus.


K&R for a great point.

[niceypoo]

16. No

He will win in 2012

If he wants a strong legacy he needs to stop trying to include the republicans though. Including them in anything automatically ruins it.

[Enrique]

18. hopefully it hasn't started

hopefully it will start when Rahm leaves.

[pscot]

19. Amen to that

[BlueIris]

20. Yep.

Tick, tock.