@georgeob1,
Quote:giving up on single payer HC and Cap & Trade were significant political setbacks considering the weak numbers Republicans held in the Congress.
Is this serious? You consistently forget the fact that the Republicans Filibustered every single major bill. This requires 60 votes to pass EVERYTHING. The Dems had 60, but Lieberman was unreliable and with Kennedy and Johnson's health problems they didn't even have that for much of the session.
What you describe just doesn't match reality. The Dems passed all the things you mention - in the House, where they really did have large majorities. Then they died in the Senate, where the Republicans just filibustered everything that came up. That's not Obama's fault.
I would also point out that Obama made a major point in his campaign for prez, that the WH doesn't run the legislative branch, and the way that the Republicans handled it was inappropriate and downright wrong. He promised to let the other parts of government run themselves; and the result is less effectiveness than one might have hoped.
You say that independents turned 'against him en masse. ' There's little evidence that this is true. Polling evidence, even on election day, doesn't support your claim at all. It certainly doesn't right now. I wish you'd refrain from posting lies like this without supporting evidence.
There is no 'cumulative effect' to failed votes to change something. Those votes essentially mean nothing at all, no more so than the Cap-and-trade votes that were passed in the House last cycle. The judges who have ruled against HCR have not impressed me - or our nations legal scholars - with their logic. I am not worried about the SC review of the issue for even a second; examining the last 30 years of the SC expanding and utilizing the Commerce clause ought to give those who are relying upon them to strike down this bill on those grounds shivers.
Any president faces a chance of losing the upcoming election, but that doesn't mean that Obama isn't in a good position. The lack of a strong candidate on the other side helps, as does the craziness of the Republicans holding the House right now.
You state,
Quote:All told a very significant loss of political strength for the first two years of any new Presidential term - particularly considering the strength of his (and his party's victory in 2008.
This is perfectly untrue. Obama got more significant programs passed in his first two years than any president in decades. His approval ratings track pretty much exactly with Reagan and Clinton's at this point. The public still indicates via polling that they trust him far more than the Republicans on every issue. What, exactly, is the loss of strength?
I think that more than anything else it's a rhetorical construct in your mind. A projection.
Cycloptichorn
