SK: Believe it or not, but I grew up in a Democratic Party household (okay, “Chicago” Democrat on my dad’s side, which is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun). My mom’s family hailed from Detroit and all of them worked for Ford Motor for their entire careers. My was dad a defense aerospace engineer and my uncle worked for Merrill Lynch, but they were strong and ardent supporters of a “fair” system, meaning balanced between GOP and Dems in terms of how much leash you allowed Big Business and Big Labor.

My uncle, who was a stockbroker and wheeler-dealer type, was a huge fan of LBJ’s (and not because of Vietnam). He was a huge fan because, to him, LBJ was the consummate politician and knew how to make a deal. As my uncle said, LBJ understood when to cajole and when to bust heads. LBJ also came up in the rough-and-tumble Texas political machine and thus knew the “true” nature of politics.

My point is that Obama has none of that experience (in spite of coming out of the Chicago political machine) and thus none of that grit. Instead of making the stimulus and ACA his own, he foisted it off on Congress, with predictable results. I do agree with your assessment, especially the assertion that he thinks he’s accomplished his goals. A persistent complaint about Obama and his administration is that they are living in a bubble and failing to see what is going on outside the beltway. While this is generally true of DC, I think its probably markedly more true of Obama and due to his somewhat insular approach (i.e. holding himself above the fray, as it were).

All of this, to me, makes him vulnerable in the coming election, especially with a fire-breathing populist like Perry coming to the fore for the GOP. I realize that comparisons are odious, but there are definite parallels to the 1980 Carter – Reagan showdown, including the Dem’s dismissal in 1980 of Reagan as a “lightweight”. Whoops.