I’m impressed with President Obama’s politicking in the last couple of weeks.
First he forces Republicans to deny a president a speech to a joint session of Congress, for the first time ever, drawing more attention to the speech. Then he has the grace to accept an alternate date, proposed by a Republican. (He also had no choice, but he still looks good.)
The pre-speech leaks did not convey the breadth of his proposals, so last night’s speech seemed even bigger in comparison.
Finally, so many of his proposals are Republican ideas, that they look even more obstructionist when they push back at the plan—especially in an environment where the public hates Congress even more than they hate the president.
The speech may have been a master stroke of election politics, but it also has the added benefit of being a helpful plan that might actually be passable—except that congressional Republicans are more intent on making Obama a one-term president than actually doing anything to serve their jobless constituents.
I couldn’t agree more! It’s nice to see the president with a full set of balls for a change.
I’m just amazed that anyone can support the GOP at this point. They’re hurting average Americans, just so they can score political points. Disagreeing on approach is one thing, but they’re happy to stop any progress, just so they can try to hurt the president. It’s outrageous!