Obama's poll numbers — which had previously slid into the low 40’s — are up, and the president has enjoyed a streak of good headlines.
Those factors, coupled with a rising economy, are making the White House optimistic about his final two years in office.
White House allies say the president feels an increased sense of liberation with the elections over. They predict that he will continue to be proactive in the face of the Republican Congress that will take power early next year. ...TheHill
President Obama has never been and probably never could identify with a man of color expecting trouble down the road. But there's no way Republican representatives in Washington -- from the earliest days of the new century to present -- will be able to shed the image of yahoos with hoods looking for ways to trap the two term president. The most galling thing about President Obama is that he is undefeated, in spite of all efforts -- racist or political.
After a mostly lackluster 2014, Obama was able to score a series of wins in the last six weeks by going on the offensive with a string of executive actions, a hitherto-secret plan to normalize relations with Cuba and a satisfying compromise on the omnibus.
“He doesn't feel constrained anymore,” said Steve Elmendorf, the prominent Democratic lobbyist and veteran of Capitol Hill. “I think he felt constrained before the election, a little too constrained, to protect vulnerable senators. Now he has a little more breathing room.” ...TheHill
On the one hand, watching the interaction between Republican politicians and the President is like watching an old movie about the South. On the other hand, it's like watching a very rightwing Wile E. Coyote fall with the boulder once again while the road runner leaves a trail of dust.
“The most remarkable trait of Barack Obama is that he's always had a confidence about him regardless of political wins or what pundits are saying,” the former official said. ...TheHill
Damned road runner!
Obama’s winning streak was extended on Tuesday when new data from the Commerce Department showed that the economy grew at a 5 percent rate from July to September, the fastest pace in 11 years.
The news will surely add to Obama’s swagger on the economy. ...TheHill
So he's got the momentum now. Will it last? Up there is the coyote, once again, about to shove a boulder off, expecting to crush the road runner. Will the road runner be flattened this time?
“It will be much, much harder,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
Zelizer explained that Obama had a small window on the heels of the midterm elections with Democrats still in control of the Senate. But come January, he added, Republicans “will have much more muscle that they can flex in response to Obama’s use of executive power or the bully pulpit.”...
... “The blowback will be much more severe,” Zelizer said, adding that a less aggressive Obama may emerge in 2015. “More of his life will be about playing defense.” ...TheHill
Obama still has a bunch of supporters out there, supporters who have been frustrated but never entirely gave up on him. The yahoos down the road, the ones with the white hoods, have been recognized for what they are. They have real faces and names. From Issa to McConnell and Graham to Cruz, these guys are making even long-time Republican voters gag with embarrassment -- and with the realization that their leaders may have lost the war after all.
Besides using executive action, the former administration official said Obama also has another trump card: a capacity to pressure Republicans to shift away from outright obstruction.
“If Republicans want to demonstrate that they can govern, they have to prove that they can govern with the president they have now,” the former official said. ...TheHill
But they've just spent almost eight years trying and succeeding in demonstrating that's just what they can't and won't do. Reports have been coming out lately about how Mitch O'Connell is trying to turn his caucus into a solid "yes" vote. Well, lotsa luck there, pal...
Wile E. falls with his own boulder and is crushed ...yet again.