Obama's Second First Year

I wrote up a retrospective earlier this week about Obama's accomplishments during his first term where I agreed with Paul Krugman that Obama did a lot of great things and that while he may not have pleased everyone on the Left, what he did is still pretty impressive.

If you remember, Obama spent much of the first year of his first term securing money to bail out banks and industries, essentially making sure the entire country didn't go the way of Lehman Brothers. Well, check.

His big legislative fight was arguing for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which took an enormous amount of bickering and, in my opinion, sapped his political capital. He did get it through in early 2010, but it was a watered down version of what he initially wanted, and we were all left wondering why he spent so much time on that when we were out here dealing with unemployment and foreclosures. The party was looking at him wondering what happened to immigration reform and LGBT rights. Well, he went on to address all of the issues he talked about in his campaign, though perhaps not in the way or with the fire that he used on the campaign trail.

Second Term

Well, what about this time around? As a second term president who garnered 53% of the vote, he seemingly has more of a mandate than he had the first time around. I think that's largely true. He's got a chance in his "second first year" to push something with the strength of that mandate behind him and the Republicans on their heels. They've already folded on the debt ceiling fight this month- it seems it's no longer politically viable for them to have a public argument with the White House.

But what will that "something" be? What can President Obama focus on, and what would those things mean?

1. Gun Control: After the horrific shootings in Newton, Connecticut, Obama charged VP Biden to come up with gun control recommendations, and he issued some executive orders last week along those lines. As a cause, gun control is noble. As a political issue, it's a Constitutional minefield. If Obama chooses to focus on this, arguing over background checks and magazine size, I think he will lose political support without gaining much ground. Better to do what he can with bi-partisan support and move on to another issue. At some point the country will collectively decide that the gun control situation in the U.S. is out of control and do something drastic about it. I think we're still building up to that point.

2. Same-Sex Marriage: On the other hand, I think we're well past the tipping point on this issue. Public opinion has shifted to the left with LGBT life being represented significantly more in mainstream media and the simple fact that more of us who are in our thirties and younger grew up with tolerant or supportive messaging and feelings. To me, this is a big issue that will happen during the second term. I hope Obama pushes on this one. Though the first year may not be the time, it should happen this term.

3. Immigration Reform: Now is the time. This next window of time between inauguration and the 2014 mid-term elections is it. The country is behind Obama, and I think he has the window to approach Congress and get something meaningful and progressive through. I agree with David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Obama, who said, "We clearly have this moment where we can get immigration done. If we don’t get it done, then shame on us. We’ve got to seize this opportunity.”

4. Debt Ceiling and Federal Budget: This is going to be an issue as long as there is politics. The second term is a time when a president starts to secure his legacy. Obama would do well to focus on social issues in my mind, not trying to fix the national budget or argue over the debt ceiling. Deal with it when the Republicans force his hand, but this is not going to be a legacy issue-- it's a housekeeping issue.

Most of all, I hope Obama continues his approach to conversation and push for bipartisanship. It's been a contentious first term, and at the end of it, the Republicans are on their heels because the country doesn't want to deal with their obstructionist tactics. I hope that Obama doesn't become unnecessarily combative, but looks to leverage the goodwill he has.

What do you think?

Image Source: Tom Lohdan via flickr