AP: Analysis: Obama's dangerous political gambit

[steve2470]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020300253.html

By JENNIFER LOVEN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Slapping Republicans with one hand, extending olive branches with the other, President Barack Obama is playing a dangerous political game.

It's not a new one.

And it just might work.

Fearful of losses in the November congressional and gubernatorial elections, Democrats have been urging Obama to help them stay competitive by throwing tougher punches at Republicans. Those calls grew louder after the Democrats' stunning loss two weeks ago of a Senate seat in Massachusetts, seen as an indictment of Democratic control over Congress and the White House and a potentially disturbing bellwether for the fall voting.

Obama has been complying.

Since last Wednesday's State of the Union address, the president has held two campaign-style town hall meetings, including one Tuesday in New Hampshire, where two House races and a Senate seat are in play this year, using both to call out Republicans for opposing him on health care, federal spending and other issues. He also spoke at a meeting last week of House Republican lawmakers, where each side aired complaints against the other, sometimes sharply.

more at link above

[thunder rising]

1. I love that penguin/polar bear picture. Obama's "gambit" is not dangerous, it's what he does.

[SharonAnn]

6. Obama once said he wouldn't throw the first punch, but he would throw the last.

[RC]

2. How can this be dangerous? The obstructionist party is already doing

everything it can to finish bring this country to its knees. Alan Grayson can't do much by himself, it's about time he had some help.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ShadowLiberal]

4. Truman took big risks that paid off while the GOP played it safe

I hope it works, Truman once was in a bad situation running for reelection in 1948, looking totally screwed, but then he went on the offensive, labeling the GOP controlled congress the do nothing congress (it also helped when Truman dared the GOP to pass their own agenda and none of their agenda passed), while the GOP, especially the presidential candidate, played it safe and didn't fight back much. It let Truman win an election that no one thought he could win, and his party retook both houses of congress at the same time.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. I stopped reading after "AP Analysis"

nt