Conressional Waterloo for Democrats

It has been close to a month since Congress passed ObamaCare, a bill drafted in secret which no one, even the lawmakers who voted on it, ever read, against the will of the people. Despite efforts to sell the new law to the American public, it has not worked. We are not warming up to the bil. There is nothing obvious that can be said or done to change many minds. as the tea party demonstrations proved yesterday, Americans do not have as short a memory about laws passed as democrats had hoped.

Even progressive pollsters have come around to the truth. A round up of poll results estimates a Republican gain in the House of anywhere from 25-51 seats and a net gain of four in the Senate. If you guessed some are spinning these estimates as good for obama, you would be right.

I think Obama enthusiasts are overestimating him. Even if there is a GOP landslide like I 1994, there is no guarantee Obama will be able to play off Congress as well as Bill Clinton did. Clinton was a politician in love with the idea of his presidency. Obama is an ideologue in love with the idea of reshaping the country in his own image. Mr. ’I won” is a complete failure at the compromising game. All the accolades fawning progressives ca muster are not going to change that.

Obama has never seriously faced opposition at ay point in his career. He has not handled dissenting members of his own party that well, either. Bullying and bribery is not very statesmanlike.

How will he handle a recalcitrant Congress that does not share ObamaVision? I say he throws a tantrum in frustration. As his popularity declines, he will retreat among likeminded progressives--smaller and smaller crowds of them, to boot--until he is completely marginalized. It will not matter if Democrats still hold the senate. It will not be enough to push his agenda.

On the bright side for progressives, they can blame the racist Republicans for ruining the Obama presidency.