Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Obama, Truman and a “Do-Nothing” Congress

Will 2008 become 1948 in reverse?

Public support for Congress has plummeted to all-time lows:

• Only 9 percent of Americans give Congress a good or excellent rating, the lowest approval rating in the history of Rasmussen Reports tracking polls.

52 percent in the Rasmussen survey say Congress is doing a poor job, tying the record high for this dubious distinction.

• Only 13 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of Republicans give Congress an excellent or good rating.

Are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in danger of giving Republicans an opportunity to run against a “do-nothing” Congress?

What if Republicans, copying President Harry S. Truman’s brilliant strategy in 1948, decide to put before the Congress a set of initiatives that a Democratically-controlled Congress would refuse to act upon?

Barack Obama not only faces the possibility of looking like the over-confident Thomas E. Dewey, but also the possibility of John McCain looking like Harry S. Truman.

To date John McCain’s campaign has not gained traction. His poor speaking skill and lack of charisma, like Harry Truman’s, have not captured the imagination of the American public. But Truman’s 1948 stratagem, one of the most brilliant in presidential campaign history, changed all of that.

Will history repeat itself in reverse?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

What an interesting comparison. They say history repeats itself. There is actually a book called THE LAST CAMPAIGN: How Harry Truman Won The 1948 Election by Zachary Karabell Knopf.

zoeclubs said...

Wish you gave Obama to Africa, in a United Nations seat. America is blessed to have his service. Hope you will send him to Ibadan soon,for a Baptist youth convention nextyear!.

zoeclubs said...

We need youths in Africa.Many are distracted academically, and in the right choice of a life partner. He is gifted in coding the house of faith in unity and prayer. Obama will be a blessing to us in Ibadan if you share him with us in speaking engagement, sometime soonest.

zoeclubs said...

Accept my sympathy on the passing away of his mother recently.!

zoeclubs said...

I saw Mrs. Obama on CNN. She is beautiful!

zoeclubs said...

God bless America!

zoeclubs said...

We pray for America everyday!