Dear Commons Community,

With the 2010 elections five days old and with much joy or consternation depending upon one’s political leanings, Lou Cannon , journalist and biographer of Ronald Reagan, has an insightful piece in Politics Daily on the prospects of President Obama being re-elected in 2012.  He draws similarities to Reagan, FDR and Bill Clinton, all of whom had to fight back from significant mid-term  election losses in their political parties.  Cannon judges Obama’s chances as follows”

“I have great respect for President Obama and think his health care bill and many of his other policies are likely to be judged more favorably by history than they were by the 2010 electorate. But when people ask if Obama can “pull a Reagan“ and roar back to re-election victory in two years, I respond with questions of my own. Tell me, I ask, the identity of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. And tell me also how fast the economy is growing and what the jobless rate will be. History is lived forward, and Obama’s prospects depend on the answers to these questions.”

Tony

The piece above  is available at:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/06/can-obama-emulate-reagan-and-clinton-and-fdr/