The New Comeback Kid

[Geee]

Human Events:




WASHINGTON -- If Barack Obama wins re-election 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.

[nickydog]

This just makes my heart sink to the floor. Could he be right?

[cudjo]

Sounds like the press is just trying to pump up their boy, he's still a jerk

[Chickadee]

I will state again that IMO it will be very hard to beat Obama in 2012. I will admit that even though he may be on a little peak of popularity right now, he still has two more years to hang himself, so I have not entirely given in to my gut feeling.

 

I also had hope a few weeks ago that the conservatives might truly rally. My hopes have been dashed yet again. Why did these elected conservative legislators not wait until January to pass the correct tax bill? I believe they thought it was going to reflect negatively on Republicans by putting the budget in jeopardy and getting bad press over it. In the end most reasonable people (60% of the population?) would have seen the beneficial results of waiting and forgotten the momentary end-of-year budget flap.

 

Stay alert people. The emperor has donned a new holograph which is appealing to many of the misinformed/uninformed masses. It is still all smoke and mirrors, but exposing that is not going to be easy.

[Geee]

I believe that this guy will by tough to beat in 2012 also, unfortunately. They(Dems and the press) will rehabilitate and stand behind them as they always do. If we end up putting up a weak or damaged candidate again, we are toast.