Obama - Difference Between 1994 and 2010 "You Got Me"

Politico is quoting an astonishing account by retiring Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry about a meeting he had recently with President Barack Obama. The subject of whether the 2010 midterms were going to be a repeat of 1994 came up.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette account, quoted in the Politico, said about President Obama's view on 2010 vs. 1994, "The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, 'Well, the big difference here and in '94 was you've got me.'"

No wonder Congressman Berry has decided to retire. Marion Berry is a Blue-Dog Democrat who has represented his majority Republican district since 1997. Marion Berry seems to have judged that his chances of being elected to another term are slim, and to avoid the humiliation of being beaten, has opted to retire.

The prospects for House Democrats are bleak in 2010. Stu Rothenberg, the political analyst, has just issued a report that suggests that currently fifty eight Democratic House seats are "in play" as opposed to fourteen GOP House seats. Furthermore, Rothenberg has hinted that even more Democratic House seats will be in play as the year wears on.

President Obama appears to believe that he can forestall the tsunami about to engulf Congressional Republicans by sheer force of his own awesomeness. The problem is that President Obama is 0 for 3 in helping out fellow Democrats. Candidates in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts have all gone down to defeat despite President Obama's efforts to help them win their elections.

Recent history has not been kind for presidents in mid-term elections. The exception was President George W. Bush, who in 2002 actually gained seats in the Congress in the mid-terms during that year. Of course the afterglow of the rally around the president effect due to 9/11 was still extant in 2002.

Arrogance is a common failing for those in power, particularly Presidents of the United States. Some, like Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, used religious faith to mitigate against hubris. Others, like Presidents George H. W. Bush and John F. Kennedy, called upon their aristocratic breeding and a gentleman's code. President Bill Clinton was constantly reminded of his humanity by each scandal that blighted his administration.

But what of President Barack Obama, who evidently sees God every time he looks in the mirror? Perhaps the only thing that will teach him humility is a failure so immense that he cannot possibly explain it away by blaming it on others or on circumstance. Hopefully that failure will take the form of an election defeat this fall and not, as many fear, a new mass casualty terrorist attack.

Sources: Berry: Obama said "big difference" between '10 and '94 is "me", Glenn Thrust, Politico, January 25th, 2010

GOP upside in House 58 seats?, Ed Morrissey, Hot Air, January 25th, 2010