I wish Obama came into the whitehouse with the agenda of NOT TRYING TO BE RE-ELECTED. But rather to fix the real issues in this country. Can you imagine if a President announced on day 1, after winning the election, that he/she will not seek re-election. You'd have almost everyone in this country behind this President. No under the table deals for 2nd term. Remove the re-election aspect from the equation and we can have some real progress.
If this were the case, everyone would rally around 2nd term Presidents. But what we generally see is that it makes a President impotent, because his own party in Congress tends to focus on their re-election. Since the President will not be the standard bearer, there is no reason for Congresspeople to fall in line. Big things rarely ever get done in 2nd terms.
No, nobody would rally around 2nd term Presidents because they now have to own up to the schemes and deals they plotted. They owe favors and are indebted to people. That's why they are ineffective.
Obama got played. He got played when he agreed to extend tax cuts last year without anything for the budget. He should have tied that to a debt ceiling vote. He got played because the Republicans used the Tea Party as a bluff. They'd never let the country default. It was all a master stroke by them. They are very happy. Obama is a douchebag.
