Republicans believe that they are in ascendancy. They have engaged in outrageous verbal attacks and villainous smears, procedural obstructionism and constant filibustering, and have flooded the airways with demagogic propaganda. Republicans have done this with healthcare as well as with energy, climate change, the economy, regulating Wall Street, and much more. All of this for the sole purpose of placing Republicans in power.
Republicans don't give a damn about helping the American people but only to gain power for themselves.
And they think that they are succeeding. Most of the pundits are predicting a bad November for Democrats. Republicans go further and say that Obama will be a one-term president.
They don't understand President Obama. They look at current polls and make decisions. Ezra Klein has come up with this quotation from David Broder assessing President Reagan after his first year in office:
It is customary in the second January after each inaugural ceremony to write a midterm assessment of a presidency. That is what I set out to do. But it quickly became clear that in the case of Ronald Reagan, something else is required.
What we are witnessing this January is not the midpoint in the Reagan presidency, but its phase-out. "Reaganism," it is becoming increasingly clear, was a one-year phenomenon, lasting from his nomination in the summer of 1980 to the passage of his first budget and tax bills in the summer of 1981. What has been occurring ever since is an accelerating retreat from Reaganism, a process in which he is more spectator than leader.
Polls today say what they say because healthcare reform has not passed and people blame both parties. But once healthcare reform passes - this is imminent - the entire conversation will change. And the favorability of Democrats will bloom.
Republicans have completely underrated Obama. Most of the journalists have too. Republicans thought that Obama was naive and that they could easily roll him. They thought they could beat him with the old "Washington ways." For a long time it appeared that they would. You see, Obama is a tolerant guy and has a lot of patience. But Republicans are in for a big surprise.
Obama came to Washington to solve problems, not to have left-right fights. When he says he will accept ideas from both parties, he means ideas that will help solve the problem. This is not what the Republicans have offered. Obama tried, tried, tried, tried.....tried and got nowhere. He extended his hand and got a fist in return.
Now you will see the other side. He is pushing the House to pass the Senate healthcare bill, and then the Senate to improve the bill with a few amendments. The latter will be done with a simple up-or-down vote.
After the complete healthcare package is passed, Obama will be able to proclaim to the world that he accomplished what could not be accomplished by others for half a century. The Democrats will sing his praise daily. The number of losses in the House will be small. Then Republicans will understand President Obama.
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