Arrogance and Overreach

Barack Obama was able to get Obamacare passed largely because he had a group of Democrats in Congress who were not running for re-election and thus had no fear of the voters. They overreached and the Democrats were swept out to the minority in the House of Representatives. In fact, the voters in 2010 wrecked devastating losses on the Democrats nationwide.
When politicians, regardless of party, are no longer accountable to the voters they tend to do extremely arrogant things, they tend to overreach badly, and they tend to collapse.
Barack Obama is, going into his second term, already one of the most arrogant politicians in America. Remember how his team told the public unconvincingly that Barack Obama was “among the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence on the planet’? Remember how Obama viewed himself all the way back in 2008?

“I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters,” Mr. Obama told Patrick Gaspard, his political director, at the start of the 2008 campaign, according to The New Yorker. “I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m going to think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

Couple that with the amazing admission from Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, “that we don’t have a political system or an opposition party worthy of the opportunity.”
Forget the part about the “opposition party.” Dan Pfeiffer (and kudos to Daniel Halper for catching it) states on the record that the United States does not have a political system “worthy of the opportunity” to work with Barack Obama. It’s not just the Republicans, but the system.
That arrogance indicates an intention for overreach. In fact, the whole Washington Post article suggests Barack Obama intends to stretch his legs to the limits of Presidential power to secure a legacy. They want big things. They expect big things. He himself will worry about the politics of achieving those big things.
Building on this, a word no one has used much these past few years is back: liberal. The word hasn’t been used because Americans don’t much like liberals. It’s why liberals have started calling themselves moderates or progressives. Even in 2006, 2008, and 2012, more Americans told exit pollsters they were conservative than liberal. Whether they are is another question. The fact is, Americans know that liberal is a dirty word. That the press is now relieved to finally be able to use it to describe Barack Obama creates problems for him and his agenda.
John Dickerson, in Slate, argues the President, if he wants to be transformation, will have to be deeply partisan and declare war on the GOP. In the Wall Street Journal, Michael Barone warns about second terms and hubris. We have seen hubris in this administration for four years. Given Dan Pfeiffer’s comment about a not just an opposition party, but a political system, not worthy of Barack Obama, a desire to be transformation and the need to go to war with the GOP in order to transform, combined with no more accountability to voters, we should expect some amazing feats of arrogance and overreaches of power by this President in the next four years in pursuit of liberal policy.
Republicans should be ready to capitalize on it.


By: Erick Erickson (Diary)

Comments

Shakespeare described Macbeth as having "vaunting ambition". I think the term apropos of Obummer. Pride is the great destroyer. Overreaching pride just does it quicker. He will do something that will lose him the support of even his own party. He won't be able to help himself. For a person to set himself up as a god, and Obummer certainly thinks of himself that way--not in the classical sense, but in the sense that he can solve all of America's problems as he views them, with just a few simple steps--means that he must take those steps. But, the Law of Unintended Consequences, and Murphy's Law, aside, it means he will take at least one step that even many on his side will not be able to forgive. That will destroy his legacy, and maybe his presidency. Again, he won't be able to help himself. Even if all of his advisers speak against it, he will do it anyway, because he truly believes he is smarter than all of them, and that he will be able to make it succeed where others are bound to fail.
The problem will be when Biden succeeds him. Biden is just as proud of himself as Obummer is, but without the tools.