Most folks know that Politico is hardly conservative...but this article will warm the hearts of those opposed to this President....
President Obama's big dragsBy JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN
1. Obama emerges from the months-long fracas weaker and facing much deeper and more durable political obstacles than his own advisers ever imagined.
2. Gallup pegs his approval rating at a discouraging 42 percent, with his standing among independents falling 9 points in four weeks.
3. Obama has few, if any, domestic achievements that enjoy broad public support. No one assumes employment, growth or housing prices to pick up much, if at all . And the political environment and electoral map are significantly tougher than in 2008, especially in true up-for-grabs states.
4. Absent the presidents ability to defy political gravity, one Obama adviser conceded, The numbers add up to defeat.
5. the Republican nominee will be able to pluck economic data not spin, empirical data to make the following case against Obama:
a. Millions of people lost jobs, saw the value of their house drop every month hes been in office, never realized the economic growth he promised and were so cash-strapped they couldnt buy the big-ticket items they were used to. The auto industry is on pace to sell nearly 30 percent fewer new cars than it did a decade ago, and the sales of stoves and ovens havent been this low since 1992, according to David Leonhardt, The New York Times columnist who often defends the Obama administration's economic policies. He provided Republicans some handy stats last month in a column with the stark conclusion: We are living through a tremendous bust.
b. The new litmus tests for GOP presidential candidates are the Paul Ryan Medicare plan and repealing the Obama health care plan, both of which go straight to the heart of this philosophical fight about the scope of government. For that reason alone, it is unimaginable that debt doesnt become an even bigger issue in the presidential election. The size-of-government spat is a hard one for the president to win.
c. All of these points meet on the electoral map, which isnt looking great for Obama. the states needed to add up to 270 electoral votes looks more difficult than Democratic officials had expected even a few months ago. Obamas electoral map from 2008 will be tough to duplicate, with all three perennial bellwethers Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania once again up for grabs. The states Obama won in 2008 have lost six electoral votes, complicating his quest . without at least a couple of the traditional bellwether states, Obama will be a one-term president.
d. A big hurdle for the president is the unpopularity of the very policies that his team thought would be big accomplishments in the first term. A top Democratic strategist who is close to the White House said that Obamas first-term record is going to be, on balance, probably a liability for his reelection, partly because of the failure to sell and explain the things that they were doing. Polls show his economic policy, the health care law and the auto bailout get positive reviews from fewer than half of voters. Hard to see how that changes. the biggest problem is that he has not accumulated enough domestic accomplishments that people can easily recall.
e. He knows the key to reelection is winning back the independent voters who helped elect him and then bolted in the face of his health care push. He entered office with 62 percent support among independents. But they took flight in the spring of 2009 and have never returned. control of the House and, more important but less talked-about, many state legislatures around the country.
President Obama's big drags - Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen - POLITICO.com
President Obama's big dragsBy JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN
1. Obama emerges from the months-long fracas weaker and facing much deeper and more durable political obstacles than his own advisers ever imagined.
2. Gallup pegs his approval rating at a discouraging 42 percent, with his standing among independents falling 9 points in four weeks.
3. Obama has few, if any, domestic achievements that enjoy broad public support. No one assumes employment, growth or housing prices to pick up much, if at all . And the political environment and electoral map are significantly tougher than in 2008, especially in true up-for-grabs states.
4. Absent the presidents ability to defy political gravity, one Obama adviser conceded, The numbers add up to defeat.
5. the Republican nominee will be able to pluck economic data not spin, empirical data to make the following case against Obama:
a. Millions of people lost jobs, saw the value of their house drop every month hes been in office, never realized the economic growth he promised and were so cash-strapped they couldnt buy the big-ticket items they were used to. The auto industry is on pace to sell nearly 30 percent fewer new cars than it did a decade ago, and the sales of stoves and ovens havent been this low since 1992, according to David Leonhardt, The New York Times columnist who often defends the Obama administration's economic policies. He provided Republicans some handy stats last month in a column with the stark conclusion: We are living through a tremendous bust.
b. The new litmus tests for GOP presidential candidates are the Paul Ryan Medicare plan and repealing the Obama health care plan, both of which go straight to the heart of this philosophical fight about the scope of government. For that reason alone, it is unimaginable that debt doesnt become an even bigger issue in the presidential election. The size-of-government spat is a hard one for the president to win.
c. All of these points meet on the electoral map, which isnt looking great for Obama. the states needed to add up to 270 electoral votes looks more difficult than Democratic officials had expected even a few months ago. Obamas electoral map from 2008 will be tough to duplicate, with all three perennial bellwethers Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania once again up for grabs. The states Obama won in 2008 have lost six electoral votes, complicating his quest . without at least a couple of the traditional bellwether states, Obama will be a one-term president.
d. A big hurdle for the president is the unpopularity of the very policies that his team thought would be big accomplishments in the first term. A top Democratic strategist who is close to the White House said that Obamas first-term record is going to be, on balance, probably a liability for his reelection, partly because of the failure to sell and explain the things that they were doing. Polls show his economic policy, the health care law and the auto bailout get positive reviews from fewer than half of voters. Hard to see how that changes. the biggest problem is that he has not accumulated enough domestic accomplishments that people can easily recall.
e. He knows the key to reelection is winning back the independent voters who helped elect him and then bolted in the face of his health care push. He entered office with 62 percent support among independents. But they took flight in the spring of 2009 and have never returned. control of the House and, more important but less talked-about, many state legislatures around the country.
President Obama's big drags - Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen - POLITICO.com
