Plan Backfired

Obama is gaining political strength with the tumultuous failure of a crude political maneuver by the Republican leadership and the “tea party” in the House of Representatives. Confronted by a new provocation from the extreme right, President Barack Obama is ending his year with a provisional, though strategically important victory. A number of prominent conservatives see it that way as well; Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove (from the archconservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, a leading voice of the party establishment) and distinguished scholars of equally conservative think tanks, such as Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

The topic of controversy this time was the House’s initial rejection of a two-month extension for income tax cuts that affects 160 million workers. It was a bill that had been approved in the Senate with the votes of Senate Republicans.

Against all logic, the experienced speaker of the House, John Boehner, could not control a handful of novice tea party politicians. He challenged the president, thinking mistakenly that he was cornering him with threats. Underestimating his strength, the Republican leader warned the president to order the Senate to return from their Christmas vacations to renegotiate the deadlines of the bill they had already approved.

Intelligently, Obama took advantage of the opportunity that they offered him. Utilizing a different strategy than that of the public debt ceiling debate, the president this time refrained from participating in congressional negotiations. He left the White House to comment to the public on the stubbornness of a Congress that opposes all compromises and to explain the consequences that the Republicans’ manipulation have in the pockets of the taxpayers.

The rebellion did not last long. The rebels surrendered at the first conflict, and Obama won the battle. Before going on vacation, the president signed the bill in question, while Boehner admitted that, “It may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world.” Obama’s victory, on other hand, was an important, though provisional, political triumph.

Upon their return to Washington, and before the end of the two-month deadline, Congress has to get to work on a new law to reduce the budget deficit through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. Meanwhile, Obama’s popularity is on the upswing. According to the latest poll from The Washington Post and to six polls shown by Real Clear Politics, he has an approval rating of 49 percent.

The big question, however, is if this limited and sporadic triumph will be enough for Obama to convince voters that the country is getting back on track.