Tangential to this thread, Steve Benen discusses the accomplishments of the Obama Administration since the last election cycle:
Indeed, as we talked about a couple of months ago, it’s worth looking back at the political climate in November 2014 – just 10 months ago – in the wake of a very successful election cycle for Republicans.
Because it was at this point that much of the political world simply assumed that the Obama presidency was effectively over. Sure, he’d still be in office, and maybe he’d make a decision or two, but the president’s ability to advance his agenda and rack up major accomplishments had passed. Obama was irrelevant, the argument went. Republicans were ascendant and it was time to start thinking about the 2016 race.Indeed, many expected this precisely because the script for “lame duck” presidents is so familiar, especially following a stinging electoral rebuke.
And yet, here we are. The 2014 midterms are a distant memory; Republicans lack direction and leadership; and the Obama administration has spent the year scoring one victory after another.
Remember, the parties had two very different explanations for what transpired in the last election cycle. For Republicans, GOP candidates won because Americans rejected progressivism. For the White House, voters were irritated with a Beltway that accomplishes nothing. Voters weren’t rejecting liberalism so much as they were expressing contempt for political paralysis.
The president saw no reason to temper his ambitions because as far as Obama’s concerned, he’s delivering on what people want: progress and constructive, effective policymaking.
In twenty years, will Benen’s analysis of rejection of progressivism vs disgust with the Beltway still hold true – or will we be looking at an historical analysis of one of the worst national scandals in our history, the manipulation of the 2012 vote to favor the GOP?
It’s also worth mentioning that the class of 2008 – when the Democrats one the Presidency and the Legislature, and subsequently passed the ACA – stands as quite the anomaly. Is it possible the national scandal was the 2008 elections, as the Democrats won control of the election machines – somehow? I’m dubious, but I can’t help seeing it and noticing there’s more than one plausible explanation, given the current data set. Which is why we need to collect more data.
