No wonder the White House was surprisingly nice in its first public statements about Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts campaign. After all, Brown’s victory just handed Obama what he needs to win his own campaign for reelection as president in 2012.
From Truman to Clinton, embattled presidents have seen a path to reelection by running against the Senate and House. Of course, that’s usually because those legislatures are in the hands of the other party. But Obama now has a chance to run against an obstructive Senate that contains””oh, the shame of it””less than a supermajority of his own party. It’s the best of both worlds….
[blockquote] Brown’s victory just handed Obama what he needs to win his own campaign for reelection as president in 2012. [/blockquote] That seems a bit of wishful thinking on Bottum’s part.
Many have predicted that the Obama presidency will be the ruin of the nation. Not so. Our two-party system works admirably, in that if one party over-reaches or gets complacent, the voting public will throw them out on their ear.
I am quite comfortable with the rotation of power between Democrats and Republicans every few years. I am most comfortable when one party holds the presidency and the other controls the congress: that prevents most of the damage that an over-reaching legislature or president may have in mind.
I am most uncomfortable when one party holds so much power that they can ignore the other. The election of Brown restores that needed balance.