WASHINGTON – Maureen Dowd used the perfect quote that explains why Democrats now find themselves on Republican turf:
In Cannon Falls, Minn., the president compared negotiating with House Republicans to negotiating with his wife.
“In my house,” Obama noted, “if I said, ‘You know, Michelle, honey, we got to cut back, so we’re going to have you stop shopping completely. You can’t buy shoes; you can’t buy dresses; but I’m keeping my golf clubs.’ You know, that wouldn’t go over so well.”
In Decorah, he said: “Everybody cannot get 100 percent of what they want. Now, for those of you who are married, there is an analogy here. I basically let Michelle have 90 percent of what she wants. But, at a certain point, I have to draw the line and say, ‘Give me my little 10 percent.’ ”
Maybe Michelle should be the one negotiating with the Republicans.
I’ve written volumes about Pres. Obama’s lack of leadership, his inability to find a vision for his presidency, but when you get down to it, if you’re willing to give your adversary 90% of what they want, though Speaker Boehner says he got 98%, there isn’t anything left to fight for, let alone anything resembling or representing what you believe in.
It’s just one reason OFA having petulant temper tantrums over the Left’s criticism of the President is ill advised. Because whether it’s Romney or Perry or someone else who sneaks in to capture the title, Republicans will have all hands on deck in 2012. As things stand today, Pres. Obama will not.
Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.