The midterm elections of 2010 have set up a difficult situation for President Obama, as he faces the next two years with a split Congress, only the eleventh and twelfth years since 1900 that this odd situation has occurred!
There are those who say he should follow the example of Bill Clinton who compromised with an opposition Congress on some issues, and yet was trashed by them in a very vicious way over the six years of their shared relationship!
Or he could fight with the opposition Congress, as Harry Truman did in 1947-1948, giving them “hell”!
Of course, both these Presidents had opposition in control of both houses, so really, comparing Obama to Clinton and Truman is not a precisely similar situation!
Rather, Obama’s situation is similar to William Howard Taft from 1911-1913; Herbert Hoover from 1931-1933; and Ronald Reagan from 1981-1987. But actually, there is no precise comparison to these Presidents either, as all three had a Democratic House of Representatives and a Republican Senate, the opposite of what Obama faces in 2011-2012!
History tells us that both Taft and Hoover had unhappy years under a split Congress, and both lost re-election in a landslide, so they are not good models!
The Ronald Reagan comparison is more relevant, and went on for six years. Reagan had his principles, and while not always able to gain his agenda, he never really wavered in promoting his goals, and this was seen as making him a man of honor and principle!
Whatever Obama does is a tough choice and will affect his rating in history, but it seems to the author that he came in wanting to be a “transformational” President, and the only way to do that is to stand up and fight, stop caving in to GOP opposition, recognize that they wish him failure and have said so, and unite his liberal base by insisting on doing whatever can be done to advocate political, social and economic reform, along the lines of his very productive first two years, the most accomplished since the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson!
We do not need another Jimmy Carter or even Bill Clinton; we need another Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, or Woodrow Wilson who will fight his opponents and challenge the nation to greater goals!
Obama should use the powers of his office through executive orders, not give a damn about his conservative critics, and remember that he was elected by the American people to bring change, not just muddle through and waste his mandate of 2008!
If conservatives and Republicans wish to continue to be negative, so be it, and they will bring down on themselves the wrath of the American people in 2012 and beyond!
Their negativism, lack of care for the average American, and insistence on favoring the wealthy and the corporations will lead to a reaction in two years against them, and they will be repudiated, as they will be seen for what they are–obstructionists who do nothing to make the American economy improved!
Obama should wage a “war on the GOP”, and gain the nickname “Give them hell, Barack”, just as Harry Truman gained the nickname of “Give them hell, Harry”!