Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas President Obama acknowledged Hispanic supporters anger over his failure to achieve immigration changes during a recent news conference including paths to legal status for some illegal immigrants.
Immigration the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline gay marriage tax policy and other issues could invite bold initiatives by a president who knows he will never run for office again especially if his party gains ground in the Congressional Elections.
My hope is that after this election the Latino community will have sent a strong message that they want a bipartisan effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform the President told reporters.
When I came into office I said I am going to push to get this done. We didnt get it done. And the reason we havent gotten it done is because what used to be a bipartisan agreement that we should fix this ended up becoming a partisan issue said the President.
For now however Obama is postponing action on several difficult issues knowing that Republicans are determined to deny him political victories a few months before their chance to oust him. In their fourth year re-election politics overshadow almost everything.
Obama expressed a fundamental truth when he quietly told Russias president that he will have more flexibility to deal with the touchy issue of missile defense after the Nov. 6 election - if Obama wins that is.
The statement might have raised few eyebrows had Obama made it nonchalantly to a U.S. audience. Instead it kicked up a fuss because Obama thought the microphones were off when he spoke with Dmitry Medvedev inSouth Korea and because Obama seemed to take his re-election for granted.
Missile defense isnt the only area in which President Barack Obama will have more flexibility if hes re-
elected.
No president of either party has any flexibility whatsoever during a re-election year. Everything you do will be judged strictly in a political context. And anything you do thats remotely unpopular could cost you the election said Dan Schnur a former GOP presidential aide who teaches political science at the University of Southern California.
Obama foreshadowing what he told Medvedev said a presidential election can change the policy landscape.
Obama also failed to deliver on his 2008 campaign promise to undo the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. The president postponed action in late 2010 when high unemployment made tax increases harder to defend.
Now the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone are set to expire shortly after the November election unless Congress acts. The agreement was part of a bipartisan compromise last fall in which Obama forced Republicans to agree to no more debt-ceiling showdowns until after the election.
Obama has had a shakier time slow-walking the proposed Keystone XL pipeline which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Environmental groups strongly oppose the plan but Obamas GOP opponents hammer him almost daily for not approving it.
The president has struggled to finesse the issue. Republicans scoff the claims.
On another front many activists believe Obama will endorse same-sex marriage if he wins a second term; the White House has not promised to do so.
Presidents typically push hard for achievements in their first three years show more caution in their fourth year and then aim high again if they win re-election.
Obama led a brutally partisan fight for the health care overhaul now before the Supreme Court. Will he boldly push for big changes in immigration Social Security or other difficult issues if he wins a second term?
In their fourth year re-election politics overshadow almost everything. Obama foreshadowing what he told
Medvedev said a presidential election can change the policy landscape.
Such a call to arms of course often takes place in an election campaign not after it. George W. Bushs effort to allow partial privatization of Social Security for younger workers quickly collapsed in the face of strong Democratic opposition and tepid GOP support.
Obama may have more flexibility to deal with missile defense immigration and other issues if he wins a second term. Whether he will have a mandate to do so is another question.
