Gary Pearce posted on July 26, 2011 09:42
President Obama and Governor Perdue may have gained political yardage by contrasting themselves to unreasonable, extremist Republicans. But – in light of what has happened to both of them in recent days – they may lose even more ground by looking weak.
Weakness is a flaw voters will not forgive in an executive. President Reagan beat a bullet, stood down the air traffic controllers and passed his first tax cut. President Clinton beat impeachment and balanced the budget.
Jimmy Carter, on the other hand, was held hostage by Iran. George H.W. Bush had it both ways: He beat Saddam, but the economy beat him.
Last night, President Obama was reduced to accepting cuts that he even described as extreme, complaining about Republicans and asking Americans to call their members of Congress. Weak stuff, that.
Obama looks like he’s being held hostage by the debt-ceiling debate. And he can lose two ways: Either Democrats cave on higher revenues, or there is some kind of economic catastrophe.
Governor Perdue had picked up in the polls by standing up to the legislature, but now she’s losing every veto battle.
In politics, like baseball, a losing streak is dispiriting. And it can become a self-perpetuating cycle.