Colorlines' Rinku Sen wants President Obama to use his newfound political capital:
[T]he past week's events—Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate and his thrashing of Donald Trump, at a point when he clearly knew the Bin Laden operation was in process—shows that our president is fully capable of masterful political strategy.
The president now has the opportunity to redirect the last decade's trajectory by resetting national priorities. This moment will not come again, and struggling Americans are still waiting for Obama to make good on his promise of change. One enormous obstacle that stood in his way no longer does: an unwinnable “war on terror” that created a budget sinkhole with more than $1 trillion spent in 10 years.
Now is the time to end these wars and refocus our energy and resources on the domestic issues that are causing so much misery in the lives of U.S. residents. With his detractors grasping at chewed up straws, here are the three things that Obama should ram through Congress over the coming year.
Sen then offers three items -- immigration reform, job assistance, and corporate tax reform -- that Obama should pursue while he still has the time.
Unfortunately, political capital isn't that straightforward. As we saw at the beginning of Obama's presidency, the mere fact of popularity (or a large congressional majority) doesn't guarantee support from key members of Congress. For Obama to actually sign legislation to reform the immigration system, provide money for jobs, or reform corporate taxes, he needs unified support from his party and support from a non-trivial number of Republicans. Unfortunately, Republicans (and plenty of Democrats) aren't interested in better immigration laws, fiscal stimulus, or liberal tax reform. Absent substantive leverage -- and not just high approval ratings -- there isn't much Obama can do to pressure these members (Democrats and Republicans) into supporting his agenda.
Indeed, for liberals who want to see Obama use his political capital, it's worth noting that approval-spikes aren't necessarily related to policy success. George H.W. Bush's major domestic initiatives came before his massive post-Gulf War approval bump, and his final year in office saw little policy success. George W. Bush was able to secure No Child Left Behind, the Homeland Security Act, and the Authorization to Use Military Force in the year following 9/11, but the former two either came with pre-9/11 Democratic support or were Democratic initiatives to begin with.
To repeat an oft-made point, when it comes to domestic policy, the presidency is a limited office with limited resources. Popularity with the public is a necessary part of presidential success in Congress, but it's far from sufficient.
