Krauthammer - Take 2

[Clio the Leo]

You all enjoyed the first Krauthammer article so much, I knew you'd get a kick out of this one. :)

The new comeback kid
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, December 17, 2010;

If Barack Obama wins reelection in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010.

Obama had a bad November. Self-confessedly shellacked in the midterm election, he fled the scene to Asia and various unsuccessful meetings, only to return to a sad-sack lame-duck Congress with ghostly dozens of defeated Democrats wandering the halls.

Now, with his stunning tax deal, Obama is back. Holding no high cards, he nonetheless managed to resurface suddenly not just as a player but as orchestrator, dealmaker and central actor in a high $1 trillion drama.

Compare this with Bill Clinton, greatest of all comeback kids, who, at a news conference a full five months after his shellacking in 1994, was reduced to plaintively protesting that "the president is relevant here." He had been so humiliatingly sidelined that he did not really recover until late 1995 when he outmaneuvered Newt Gingrich in the government-shutdown showdown.

And that was Clinton responding nimbly to political opportunity. Obama fashioned out of thin air his return to relevance, an even more impressive achievement.

Remember the question after Election Day: Can Obama move to the center to win back the independents who had abandoned the party in November? And if so, how long would it take? Answer: Five weeks. An indoor record, although an asterisk should denote that he had help - Republicans clearing his path and sprinkling it with rose petals.

<snip>

The greatest mistake Ronald Reagan's opponents ever made - and they made it over and over again - was to underestimate him. Same with Obama. The difference is that Reagan was so deeply self-assured that he invited underestimation - low expectations are a priceless political asset - whereas Obama's vanity makes him always needing to appear the smartest guy in the room. Hence that display of prickliness in his disastrous post-deal news conference last week.

But don't be fooled by defensive style or thin-skinned temperament. The president is a very smart man. How smart? His comeback is already a year ahead of Clinton's.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/16/AR2010121604846_pf.html

[xchrom]

1. i see krauthammer and moderates as being very much alike.

i think you would have liked a romney admin.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Obama freaks him out

I do see value in that, from a personal entertainment standpoint at least.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Obviously, Krauthammer Is A Very Smart Man

He's a trained psychiatrist. I actually give a lot of credence to what he writes and don't dismiss it as reverse psychology psycho babble...

[hulka38]

9. Aymen al-Zawahiri is a trained surgeon

who operated on children. Very smart man who really seemed to care. We should listen to him...

[Phx_Dem]

4. I guess anyone can be right once in their life, even Krauthammer.

"The greatest mistake Ronald Reagan's opponents ever made - and they made it over and over again - was to underestimate him. Same with Obama."

So true.

[Paladin]

5. Charles Krauthammer Said It---It Must Be True, Right?

Everybody get a grip on reality. When obnoxious, sanctimonious, right-wing spewers like Krauthammer start cheer-leading on behalf of a Democratic president, something very wrong is likely going on, from a Democratic standpoint......

[Exilednight]

6. WOW, now people on DU are supporting right-wing talking heads. n/t

[whosinpower]

7. Sad isn't it. nt

[Name removed]

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