A week ago President Obama appeared on the Michael Smerconish radio show. Mr. Smerconish asked the President what he could do “to win cooperation from Republicans” in his second term. Here is part of what the President said:
“Well, I think the most important thing is, after the election -- and I believe I'm going to win -- to once again bring the Republicans together with my administration and Democrats and say to them, the election is over; we still have some big problems to solve, and the goal of making me a one-term President is behind us, and the question now is how do we move forward in a way that strengthens middle-class families, make sure that job growth is strong, that wages are going up.”
Wow, he really doesn’t have a clue. He really thinks that the Republicans’ goal was just about “making [him] a one-term President.” It wasn’t that they disagreed with him on what might be best for the country. It was just that they wanted to him to lose.
And now, since they failed at that, they have to “move forward in a way that strengthens middle-class families”, something they apparently didn’t care about when their goal was just to make him a one-term President. He doesn’t credit the Republicans with having principles and different ideas for helping the country. He thinks were just about beating him.
President Obama doesn’t understand that Republicans, like Eric Cantor and a lot of House Republicans, really don’t agree with his policies and principles. The President apparently can’t see that the last two years wasn’t mere political obstructionism. It was that Republicans don’t agree with him on policy.
And he also doesn’t seem to realize that rubbing Republicans’ faces in the fact that he won a second term may not be the best first step to seeking their cooperation.
Bob Woodward’s book showed that President Obama isn’t very good at the kind of negotiation necessary to get legislation through a divided Congress. The President’s interview with Michael Smerconish shows that President Obama really has no clue on what motivates people who don’t agree with him and how to get an agreement with them.
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