2012 Election Center: The Main Event - Obama Wins

[fordy]

noname2200 said:

fordy said:

Who said that Republicans need a house majority to be obstructionist? Check out the record number of Filibusters used by Republicans when the Democrats are in power. They didn't want to pass policy. They wanted to stall the process to use as ammunition against the Democrats.

Now that Obama is on his last term, he has nothing to lose. Republicans on the other hand get reviewed in 2014, so they have the choice of sticking with the lunatic Tea Party, or looking to be bipartisan. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do to prevent them from losing the house in 2 years.

Hmm, true, although I'd argue that having control of the branch of the legislature which originates spending bills is a much longer lever than merely filibustering in the Senate.

As for your second paragraph, I'm curious to hear what folks think will happen. Personally, I expect the hard-liners to double down, not moderate. No idea what the rest of the party intends, although they've been happy to go along with the hard-liners for quite some time now.

The stakes are different now. For his first term, Obama only needed to show that he was willing to work together. He still had the possibility of reelection for a second term on the table. He has recognised criticisms that he folds on opposition far too easily. In his second term, Obama no longer has that worry. He will become a 2 term president. Now his only worry is whether he will be remembered as a good president or a bad president, so I'd be expecting a push for more reform based on his original ideas.

I just noticed that Harry Reid is talking about filibuster reform, which is long overdue, given the nature to abuse it. Whether Republicans see this as a bipartisan effort or a move to silence them in the senate is anyone's guess. I'd be shifting towards the latter if they hadn't been shut up at the election.

As mentioned before, Boehner has a tough choice. He can take the polls for what they are, and take Romeny's advice to work together, or he can stick to his guns of "accept no compromise" from the Tea Party, and see if he can keep hold of his position in 2014....