Obama sets himself a high political bar
| Washington
President Obama did not win a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives for his giant economic stimulus bill this week. So does that mean he wasted his time reaching out, to an unusual degree, to Republicans?
Not yet, anyway. By making very public overtures 鈥� traveling to Capitol Hill, inviting Republican members to the White House more than once, including to a cocktail party after Wednesday鈥檚 vote 鈥� he has already distinguished his administration sharply from those in recent memory, analysts say. And he鈥檚 begun work on the difficult task of remaking the highly partisan culture of Washington, as promised in his campaign.
Mr. Obama himself has stated that 鈥渙ld habits die hard,鈥� and he seemed unperturbed, at least in public, that he failed to gain any Republican votes.
But his administration also knows that the House vote is just the opening act in a multi-act drama that will play out well into next month in this high-stakes effort to address a sinking economy.
鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a longer-term strategy here,鈥� with all this outreach by Obama, says Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 going to be interesting to see in the end if the Republicans get nervous enough that the final vote is a different one.鈥�
There are risks for all concerned.
Obama will ultimately sign some sort of stimulus legislation, given the Democrats鈥� strength in Congress. But if it fails to get the economy back on solid footing,
Obama will lose his luster with the public. Congressional Democrats, not all that popular as a group, will miss an opportunity to boost their image.
If most Republicans continue to vote 鈥渘o,鈥� they risk looking like naysayers at a time when their party is trying to regain its image as a party of ideas.
House Republicans did put forth their own stimulus plan, but with the knowledge that the Democratic plan was where the action is. House Republican leaders also telegraphed a disinterest in Obama鈥檚 overtures by instructing their members to vote no even before the president went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
The Democratic plan contains tax cuts - $275 billion worth, or about a third of the package 鈥� which Republicans like, in principle, though they object to the fact that some low-income workers who don鈥檛 pay income tax would get money back anyway.
They would also like the tax cuts to be bigger. And Republicans complain that the spending portion of the bill contains money for special projects that they believe will do little for the economy in the short term and will have questionable long-term economic benefit.
In a statement issued after the House vote, Obama betrayed no disappointment over the lack of Republican support, and signaled an openness to accommodating more GOP wishes.
鈥淭he plan now moves to the Senate, and I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk,鈥� Obama said. 鈥淏ut what we can鈥檛 do is drag our feet or allow the same partisan differences to get in our way.鈥�
Obama began by emphasizing the economic challenge ahead, noting the loss of 2.6 million jobs last year, and Monday鈥檚 announcement that some major employers were eliminating another 55,000 jobs. 鈥淭his is a wake-up call to Washington that the American people need us to act and act immediately,鈥� he said, an echo of President Roosevelt鈥檚 first inaugural, in which he called for 鈥渁ction and action now.鈥�
On Capitol Hill, the total 鈥渘o鈥� vote by Republicans was seen more as a slap at Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi rather than Obama.
The president won praise for seeking more input on the content of the bill than the speaker did. Now that the Republicans have made their point, they may find that playing ball with Obama is more fruitful than continued stonewalling 鈥� another reason for Obama to continue his push to woo Republicans.
鈥淥bama is likely to give a little bit at the edges,鈥� says Bruce Buchanan, a presidential scholar at the University of Texas, Austin.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not going to give on the core stuff,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut they might have much more input than they could otherwise expect with the steamroller approach, which has been politics as usual.鈥�
Another reason to surmise that Obama will keep wooing Republicans rather than get mad and give up is his cool demeanor.
鈥淗e has this steady temperament; he doesn鈥檛 seem to lose it very much,鈥� notes Mr. Buchanan. 鈥淗e might be able to sustain that style of operation, even when there is lots of disagreement. We鈥檒l see.鈥�
If Obama does manage to peel off some Republican support for a stimulus plan, that could bode well for his ability to woo Republicans on trickier legislation down the road 鈥� such as healthcare reform.
But not everyone in Washington sees a good reason for Republican members to play along with Obama.
Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan administration Treasury official, offers his political analysis: 鈥淚f this policy works, and the economy revives, no one鈥檚 going to remember that the Republicans voted against it. Nobody鈥檚 going to care.鈥�
鈥淚f it fails,鈥� he continues, 鈥渢hey can say I told you so. Even if it works moderately well, which is probably the best we can hope for, there鈥檚 bound to be some mistakes made, so the Republicans can again point their finger and say, Aha, we told you so.鈥�
On Thursday, Obama got a break from the rigors of trying to woo Republicans in Congress when he signed his first piece of legislation as president, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.
The law lengthens the period in which workers may sue for discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, or religion.
On that bill, five Republicans in the Senate and three in the House voted yes.
