EMAIL DETAILS

How Obama Wins in 2012
by Mark McKinnon
March 17, 2010 | 10:45pm

*[image: BS Top - McKinnon Obama 2012]Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesDespite
sagging poll numbers, the president has bottomed out, and Republicans still
lack the leaders and the ideas to beat him, argues former Bush strategist
Mark McKinnon.*

All of my Republican friends are acting as giddy as kids at Christmas. They
are delighting in the misfortunes of the Democrats. They believe,
accurately, in my opinion, that the health-care bill is political suicide—at
least in the short term. So, if the health-care bill passes, Republicans
take the House in the fall. And if the health-care bill doesn’t pass, the
Democrats look feckless and incapable of getting anything done, and they
still lose the House in the fall.

The political environment is as toxic as we’ve ever seen. President Obama
entered office during one of the most troubled and challenging times in our
history. He got dealt a bad hand, but many argue that he and his party have
played a bad hand badly.

At this point, with a respectful nod to Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans look
more like a glue factory than an idea factory.

But something very interesting and counterintuitive is happening with Obama.
The NBC-Wall Street Journal poll published Tuesday has two findings that are
at odds with one another. First, only 17 percent of the American public
approve of Congress. That’s the lowest sounding ever recorded for Capitol
Hill. And it’s hard to imagine just who makes up that 17 percent, beyond
friends and family.

Obama’s approval ratings, on the other hand, hover well above his
colleagues'—at a healthy 48 percent.

Let’s drill down on that a bit. It’s hard to imagine that things will get
any worse for Obama during his presidency. The economy may not be roaring by
2012, but it’s likely to be better. Whatever happens with the health-care
bill, assuming it does ultimately pass, it will have had time to take effect
and will probably be less onerous than feared. Most soldiers will be out of
Iraq and perhaps progress will be apparent in Afghanistan.

No president has been reelected with an approval rating below 47. And, so
Obama, at what is probably the lowest point in his presidency, still has a
strong enough approval rating to win a second White House term. And that’s
before a reelection campaign in which he and his team will probably spend $1
billion.

Let’s also assume for the sake of argument that the Republicans do take the
House this fall. If they do, it’s a blessing for Obama—because then there
will be shared responsibility and he can blame-shift accountability for all
the failures of Congress. He will replay Bill Clinton’s playbook from 1994.

Besides, you have to beat the other team by putting players on the field who
have better talent and skills. If the players on the stage are Obama and
House Minority Leader John Boehner, whose unnatural-looking spray tan and
gleaming teeth make him look like the host for *The Price Is Right*, or
Mitch McConnell, who comes across like a funeral director, Obama’s going to
look like Babe Ruth. And to win, you have to have better ideas. At this
point, with a respectful nod to Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans look more
like a glue factory than an idea factory.

So to all my Republican friends, I say, don’t start poppin’ the Champagne
yet. Obama has taken the worst possible political pounding and he’s still on
his feet and looking pretty strong.

*As vice chairman of Public Strategies <http://www.pstrategies.com/> and
president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic
challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W.
Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong,
and Bono.*
--
Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co