Originally Posted By ecdc Or so the media would have us believe. Six weeks ago the narrative was Obama's troubled Presidency and an administration under siege. Now everywhere I turn I see the word "comeback" in headlines and articles. DADT is repealed, food safety is passed, and now the START treaty is gaining traction, all while Republicans are finally starting to show a smidgen of shame for blocking first responders' benefits. I love that it's a comeback instead of "he was never out to begin with." This is the reality of our cable news world, where big stories have to happen at least three times a day.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy This has more to do with the media's desire to keep up the "competition" narrative between political parties than any reality out there. President Obama didn't lift a finger to get DADT repealed. In fact, it probably made it through Congress in spite of President Obama's bungling of the whole situation. He didn't have anything to do with the food safety legislation other than being a willing signer once Congress sent it to him. The START treaty is simply a re-write of previous Republican arms control agreements -- not really a heavy lift (sort of like the idea that the Republicans were compromising when they walked away with all of their tax giveaways for wealthy Americans). Our news media is atrocious. There isn't a single media outlet worth paying attention to anymore.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper The comeback was predicted before the mid term election results were in. And, we've seen this in a historical context. It would be no suprise to me if he wins re-election...and wins big...unless he has some type of catastrophic meltdown between now and then.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy President Obama's re-election will be entirely decided by the unemployment rate in November 2012. Any other speculation on his prospects to win voters is irrelevant.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>unless he has some type of catastrophic meltdown between now and then<< Switch the "he has" to "we have" and I think you've got it.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>This is the reality of our cable news world, where big stories have to happen at least three times a day.<< Yep, all drama, all the time.
Originally Posted By ecdc It is interesting to me, why now? Why did some Republican senators finally decide to not go all obstructionist? Because of the election and now their constituents actually expect some work? The other news is Republicans stopped blocking Obama's judicial appointments, which had been held up at an alarming and record rate. Sure, major delta-bravos like Jon Kyl are still whining about the first responders bill and the START treaty, but they've got enough votes to actually pass this thing - for now. What happened?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>What happened?<< Holiday magic? Repeated airings of "A Christmas Carol" at this time of year? Or perhaps the GOP can get some necessary things done now so that the new, scenery-chewing hardline Republicans that are coming into office next month can disavow and scorn all of this progress as something the Democrat-controlled congress did.
