To win the presidency, Barack Obama obviously had to get more electoral votes than his opponent. But now that President Obama is in office, it is notable that his “approval rating” is less — only 49 percent.
And only 44 percent of those polled like the way he muscled ObamaCare through Congress. Congressional Democrats generally have even less favor than President Obama. But, “for better or worse,” we have President Obama and ObamaCare, and he and ObamaCare “have us.”
The next presidential election is in 2012. President Obama is surely running for re-election. His prospective presidential opponent, to have any real chance of winning, must “show up” and begin his campaign rather vigorously and soundly very soon. Who will he be?
There’s an old political truism that “You can’t beat somebody with nobody.” Even if President Obama is not popular now, some challenger must emerge soon, state sound views convincingly, and generate great enthusiasm to have a chance of winning in 2012.
Criticism of the Democrat majorities in Congress has encouraged Republicans to think they might gain control of one or both houses in the 2010 election. But for a presidential challenger to have a chance to beat President Obama in 2012, he needs to be identified and offer a good message soon.