2014 - 2016: Obama and a Republican Senate and Congress

[Naxere]

That makes even less sense. You believe the president's popularity will fall when he's going to be the opposition?

Pure genius.

His popularity will fall when people start to realize that bills that the House and Senate pass are getting veto'd by the President. Then he'll have to trot out there and explain why he's vetoing them. Right now he gets to paint them as a 'do nothing Congress' but that'll change once bills start hitting his desk.

[Fugus]

His popularity will fall when people start to realize that bills that the House and Senate pass are getting veto'd by the President. Then he'll have to trot out there and explain why he's vetoing them. Right now he gets to paint them as a 'do nothing Congress' but that'll change once bills start hitting his desk.

If that were the case, wouldn't the Republican name be pure toxic when it came to election time for shutting down the entire government and refusing to pass any law that wasn't 100% theirs even if they agreed with it just because it might actually make Obama look good?

[NYC17]

His popularity will fall when people start to realize that bills that the House and Senate pass are getting veto'd by the President. Then he'll have to trot out there and explain why he's vetoing them. Right now he gets to paint them as a 'do nothing Congress' but that'll change once bills start hitting his desk.

It'll be incumbent upon him to explain his vetoes, which he is fully capable of doing. You'll see more of a bully pulpit president in his final 2 years if democrats happen to lose the Senate. Nothing about the GOP's policies will magically change if/when they gain control. Their platform this election has been nothingness...and watching them attempt to govern will be a sight to behold.

[Rukentuts]

I can't wait until the next debt ceiling debate. Do we pay our bills, or do we not? :P

[Nadiru]

If that were the case, wouldn't the Republican name be pure toxic when it came to election time for shutting down the entire government and refusing to pass any law that wasn't 100% theirs even if they agreed with it just because it might actually make Obama look good?

People are used to Congress not passing laws. The executive vetoing them is infrequent enough to still be shocking.

[Naxere]

You'll see more of a bully pulpit president in his final 2 years if democrats happen to lose the Senate.

Orly? You seem to be the only one that thinks so.

“I sense a certain fatalism there, and it’s disturbing,” says a former adviser on Obama’s campaign who, like many others we talked with for this story, requested anonymity. “There’s a sense that ‘I’ve tried everything, and look where it got me.’ People misread it as disengagement. It’s frustration. But who cares? It’s a bad mind-set.” Another Obama veteran adds, “the bully pulpit is gone, maybe forever.”

[Rukentuts]

People are used to Congress not passing laws. The executive vetoing them is infrequent enough to still be shocking.

Depends on what's being vetoed. More ACA repeals? Nationwide voter suppression laws because state's rights?

[NYC17]

Orly? You seem to be the only one that thinks so.

A politico article makes me the only one? Are they predicting the future now?

The bully pulpit is gone...MAYBE FOREVER. That is in no way overly dramatic...and entirely rational.

[Kujako]

Depends on what's being vetoed. More ACA repeals? Nationwide voter suppression laws because state's rights?

Yea... Obama is still not gona sign the "poor people should die in a ditch" act of 2015.

[Fugus]

I know a few things I would have ended up doing as president.

Some of the really good bills that they tried to deny just because it was me. I would call a congressman on my side and discuss it first. Then I would call for a live meeting and have it right where they vote, I would explain the situation on national television, then while the camera was rolling, the congressman would propose the bill again and then it would get voted on on national television where everyone could see and every vote would be recorded on camera and any nay's would have to actually explain the logic behind it.

I would do the same for any good bill that came across with fucked up riders, I would strike the riders down and then carry it down there and on TV explain why I had to veto it and have a new vote on the stripped version on national television.

If they want to say no, let them do it for all to hear and justify it.

[Naxere]

A politico article makes me the only one? Are they predicting the future now?

The bully pulpit is gone...MAYBE FOREVER. That is in no way overly dramatic...and entirely rational.

Then explain to me, since you apparently have it figured out, how a President whose party will be in the minority in both the House and the Senate, has a bully pulpit to push his agenda through.

[NYC17]

Then explain to me, since you apparently have it figured out, how a President whose party will be in the minority in both the House and the Senate, has a bully pulpit to push his agenda through.

You want me to explain something I didn't say?

The pulpit will be used to explain his vetoes, if he has to. No one said anything about pushing his agenda through, but good job with the attempt to change the narrative of the discussion. The problem for the GOP is they have no platform. Their entire election theme consisted of "we're not Obama". Now, they have to govern. The onus isn't on Obama, it's on them.

[Fugus]

You want me to explain something I didn't say?

The pulpit will be used to explain his vetoes, if he has to. No one said anything about pushing his agenda through, but good job with the attempt to change the narrative of the discussion. The problem for the GOP is they have no platform. Their entire election theme consisted of "we're not Obama". Now, they have to govern. The onus isn't on Obama, it's on them.

I agree with you on this 100% as far as the republican platform.

Literally every single Republican advertisement I have seen where they were running against another republican, not a single one of them ever gave anything substantial on their commercials, literally every single one has been nothing but them saying how much the other guy has sided with Obama....

If the republicans do win this time based solely on that and with no regard on everything they have done in the past 6 years with him as president or all the stuff that happened under bushes watch while they had power, I will have lost most of the faith I have in this nation.

No, the democrats aren't good either, but that is just sad, if the democrats lose, let it be to an independent. Sad thing about this nation is that if a candidate would actually do any good, the public never gets to hear about them because the news outlets ignore them and they get no funding.

[NineSpine]

His popularity will fall when people start to realize that bills that the House and Senate pass are getting veto'd by the President. Then he'll have to trot out there and explain why he's vetoing them. Right now he gets to paint them as a 'do nothing Congress' but that'll change once bills start hitting his desk.

That's what Republicans thought about Clinton, and then he signed their bills and skyrocketed in popularity.

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Then explain to me, since you apparently have it figured out, how a President whose party will be in the minority in both the House and the Senate, has a bully pulpit to push his agenda through.

The President always has a bully pulpit. Obama has just been god awful at using it. When Bush wanted policies from Democrats, he went out there and beat them over the head. Clinton did the same.

[Thage]

The best thing about living in Georgia is that I get a front-row seat to the GOP eating itself alive in its mad dash to appeal to mouthbreathing hicks who shriek and cower in fear at the idea of poor people being able to eat more than once a day.

[Naxere]

That's what Republicans thought about Clinton, and then he signed their bills and skyrocketed in popularity.

Obama is no Clinton.

[NineSpine]

Obama is no Clinton.

Very true. Clinton has highly aggressive politically and Obama is terrified of Republicans, but that could lead to the same results in this case. Furthermore, Obama is very conservative and has a fetish for cross-aisle appeals.

[Annoying]

Depends on what's being vetoed. More ACA repeals? Nationwide voter suppression laws because state's rights?

I fully expect the first chunk of bills through to be repealing the ACA, and I fully expect a large handful of vetos to match them.

[NineSpine]

I fully expect the first chunk of bills through to be repealing the ACA, and I fully expect a large handful of vetos to match them.

And it will blow up in Republican faces. It gives a very easy platform to say "Look at how they are still fixated on this."

[Kujako]

And it will blow up in Republican faces. It gives a very easy platform to say "Look at how they are still fixated on this."

By that logic, they should lose todays elections. They wont. There are a large number of people who are against the ACA for illogical reasons and want it done away with because they don't connect it to the benefits it is giving them.