1) He's unlikely to top what he accomplished electorally in 2008.
2) His place in history is now secure.
3) He's already put most of the bigger pieces of his agenda into place.
4) He'll probably never again have the sort of congressional and media support that he experienced during the past two years.
5) If he leaves in 2012, he'll face a long and prosperous future as an iconic American figure. Someday, he may actually be revered and that will be much more meaningful than the instant faux adoration he experienced in 2008.
6) Michelle doesn't want him to continue. She's uncomfortable with the fishbowl existence of the White House and longs to have her family back in Chicago.
7) He's far more comfortable in the world of ideology and theory than he is in the practical, nuts 'n bolts world of national politics. Compromise and deal-making are not his forte.
8) The show can go on. And since Obama is restless anyway, leaving early will give him the opportunity to raise the curtain on a second, third or even fourth act.
2 comments:
All good points. But do you really think he won't run? And if he doesn't, who is the Democratic heir apparent? Maybe Hillary Clinton, but she's polarizing in her own right. Certainly not Biden. Evan Bayh, perhaps?
My guess is that Obama will run because I fear the President is basically a narcissist and he's got to be able to see his reflection in the spotlight. He loves the limelight.
With Obama as the Sun King, it's hard for other Democrats to emerge -- unless they're already major figures, like Hillary. Biden's finished.
The funny thing is that the GOP has a much stronger, brighter, livelier bull pen than the Dems. The Dem leaders (Pelosi, Reid, Frank) are all old and beat up. And so-called "new" Dems (like Al Franken and "Andrew The Cuomo") are tired and unexciting as well. The prognosis is not good.
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