Usually Charlie Cook’s smarter than this (bolding mine).
Every time Obama takes a public stand on immigration, he makes it that much more difficult for Republican members of Congress to support it. Keep in mind that 94 percent of House Republicans are in districts Mitt Romney carried and that 34 of 45 GOP senators represent states Obama lost. As a result, most congressional Republicans are far more afraid of losing a primary to a more conservative challenger than a general election to a Democrat. It is a lot easier for them to support an immigration bill that has broad-based support in the business and farming communities (and that also happens to be supported by Obama and the Democratic leadership) than to back a bill so popularly identified with the other side. If the president really cares about enacting immigration reform, he will get off the campaign trail, depoliticize it, and keep as quiet about it as he can.
Via Ramesh Ponnuru, who is just aware as I am that the President doesn’t really care about enacting immigration reform. Particularly since nobody at the moment can argue with a straight face that the GOP isn’t having an, ah, open and frank internal exchange of opinions on the entire issue.
I would really like to hear Charlie’s answer to one simple question. “At what point, since 2004, has Barack Obama been off the campaign trail?”.
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I can’t think of one .. his life has been, for the last decade, one campaign…
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Mew
2017 will be memorable. He probably won’t go completely algore, but it’ll be close.
I suspect, Moe, that it’ll be even worse.
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Unlike AlGore, Obama *didn’t* grow up in a ‘political’ household… and unlike AlGore, Obama doesn’t seem to understand anything about how to talk to average Americans.
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AlGore knew what the rules are, as demonstrated by his pre-Clintonian successes .. Obama literally *doesn’t* know the rules…
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I would not be at all surprised to see Obama try for U.N. Secretary General or some other high-flying position where he can kvetch at the next POTUS without having to do anything other than that and play golf…
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Mew
I hope he holds off until 2017. We should all hope that while he holds the office of president, that it keeps him stable enough to continue to appear to function.
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He seems to already be quite mad.
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It is difficult to read his plans past the end of his term. He still seems to be planning on things just magically happening, and it is hard to say what he might do if they don’t. The sad thing is, it might be better if he is a perfect conman than if he really has drunk the koolaid. (If he does see himself as a conman, he would seem to be an absurdly overconfident one, probably with a different set of mental issues.)
think he’ll grow a beard?
Some people suspect he already has one.
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Mew
Just Damn, acat…
Actually, I think he is all for immigration reform, as long as it means getting the illegals already here voting cards as soon as possible, and of course, as long as no one expects him to actually do any of the hard work. He is there to make soundbites, take credit for all positive aspects, and avoid being associated with any negative fallout that may or may not occur… and golf.