The Race is On

The Race is On

On the campaign trail, he will have 15 month to expound on the broken system in Washington––and people will listen. His approval rating may have dropped to 42 percent in recent weeks, but Congress is bobbing along the bottom of the chart at 14. (And the Tea Party, once supported by 40 percent of the public, is down to 20.)

The Republicans have yet to cast the first vote for their 2012 standard-bearer, but whoever it is will have Congressional Republicans hanging around his neck like an albatross. Harry Truman’s comeback win after a fight with Congress comes to mind as a model for Obama’s next campaign. And he doesn’t need to compromise with them any more, or even try. They emptied the chamber in their last round of Russian roulette.

That angry look is Obama summoning up his inner Harry Truman. So let it be said the 2012 presidential race started here, in a room full of adults, after Congressional Republicans needlessly drove the economic recovery into a ditch.

“Give ‘em hell, Barack!”