![]() “Every time you pick up a newspaper or turn on the television, what you see is the Republicans are divided,” said the White House aide. Top administration officials now make the case that far from slipping into the ignominy of being a lame duck, Obama is actually dictating the political game, taking advantage of the GOP’s teething problems with their new majority. He has defied Republicans and pushed forward on negotiations with longtime enemies Iran and Cuba, making good on a promise of outreach first made in a presidential debate way back in 2007. Second-term presidents often reach for legacy wins abroad, and Obama is no exception. There’s a lightness in Obama’s eyes and cocky defiance in his step in contrast to his slumped shouldered, hang-dog irritability of 2013, when the promise of his thumping re-election win the year before evaporated. Obamacare at the Supreme Court in less than three minutes As recently as September, Obama was at risk of falling below the 40% level. economy is in much better shape than most of its rivals in the developed world.Īlso looking up, as a result, are Obama’s approval ratings, which at a few points shy of 50% aren’t exactly glowing but are not bad for a seventh-year president in the politically polarized capital of a divided nation. The unemployment rate, at 5.5%, is at its lowest point since May 2008, before the Great Recession. That news came on the heels of booming jobs growth numbers and a tangible feeling that after years of slow recovery, things are looking up economically. The new sense of serenity in the White House solidified this week with figures showing that more than 16 million people have now signed up for health plans under Obamacare, the president’s top domestic achievement. Though Republicans paint Obama’s glass as half full, and argued that the administration is overstating its record, that hasn’t rattled the man in the Oval Office. “We are on offense,” said a White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, noting with satisfaction that predictions that the new Republican majority would grab the initiative and quickly make the White House a peripheral player did not pan out. With a term and a half behind him, Obama’s prospects are brighter than they have been for years. And his political luck seems to be turning. ![]() Some of the most hard-won achievements of his early years in office are beginning to pay off. His administration has been energized by his aggressive use of executive power. At the time in his tenure when most presidents fret over their waning clout, Barack Obama is redefining the concept of the lame duck. ![]()
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