To the contrary, I think the President's decision to stay out of this one demonstrates why he's such a good poker player in the tradition of Kenny Roger's song The Gambler.
You've got to know when to hold 'em
know when to fold 'em
know when to walk away
and when to run.
We all know too well that President Obama put all he had into trying to negotiate with the Republicans last summer to come up with a "grand bargain" on deficit reduction. And while most folks recognize that he put it all on the table only to run into the intransigence of folks like Cantor and Boehner, many Americans still seemed to hold him accountable for failing to get the job done.
The deal they reached at that point gave the Super Committee all the tools they needed to come up with a deal (including the fact that they could by-pass the filibuster rules in the Senate). And so President Obama stood back and let them give it a go. They failed.
This allowed President Obama to do 2 things:
1. He could pivot away from deficit reduction to focus solely on the American Jobs Act and initiatives like We Can't Wait...addressing the number one concern of voters.
2. He could show that whether he was in the picture or out - Congress failed to deal with deficit reduction.
These are the kinds of things that low-information voters notice. And it was played beautifully by our President. He knew exactly when to "fold 'em."
P.S. Do you think that after spending months leading the charge on dealing with the likes of Cantor and Boehner that perhaps President Obama knew this committee was destined to fail? And that staying out of it would be to his advantage this time?
Yeah, me too.
"Do you think that after spending months leading the charge on dealing with the likes of Cantor and Boehner that perhaps President Obama knew this committee was destined to fail?"
ReplyDeleteExactly. What's funny are those on the left who predicted that this committee would would destroy Soc Sec, Medicare, and everything else; now they claim that they knew all along that the committee would fail.
"What's funny are those on the left who predicted that this committee would would destroy Soc Sec, Medicare, and everything else; now they claim that they knew all along that the committee would fail."
ReplyDeleteBut not before they made wads of cash off their hair-on-fire email bombs. I got one forwarded to me just this weekend from credo freaking out that SS and Medicare were going to be cut by the Democrats on the Super Committee. So predictable.
Yes, he knew.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, the gambler broke even, which is what Obama may do as well, if he fails to play.
ReplyDelete