Stimulus in the Bag, Obama Rethinks Strategy

President will push hard for the agenda he wants

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Feb 13, 2009 11:15 AM CST

(Newser) – President Obama got his way, more or less, on the stimulus, but the process demonstrated Congress' abiding disinterest in bipartisanship. For future big-ticket items—and there are a lot of them—the president will take a tougher approach, Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin write for Politico. Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel offers a preview: “He has an open hand, but he has a very firm handshake.”

The White House is planning to move soon on new financial regulations, stem-cell research, energy standards, and health care. And though Obama is still interested in Republican cooperation, he will go outside DC to push his agenda if necessary. Says a top adviser, “The inside game is important, but it’s actually not where the success of his presidency is going to come.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

President Barack Obama waves to a crowd of national guard soldiers and their families in Peoria, Ill., Feb 12th. Taking his agenda outside DC will be a key part of his new strategy. (AP Photo/Bill Gaither)

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, center, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and adviser Phil Schiliro, left, talk in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 9, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Barack Obama speaks at the 102nd Abraham Lincoln Association banquet in Springfield, Ill., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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There’s an insatiable appetite for the notion of bipartisanship here and we allowed that to get ahead of ourselves. - Rahm Emanuel

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 11 comments

Guest

Feb 13, 2009 4:33 AM CST

Spend! Spend! Spend! Someone please throw Obama a basketball to keep him occupied.

Guest

Feb 13, 2009 2:49 AM CST

What world do these Right Wing Nuts come from. Obama went to the Repukes to work a deal and they refused to cooperate. So, that makes him far left? He's in the middle and will stay there. Its the Repukes who wont budge from their failed ideas which got us in this mess in the first place. Pay attention to what is happening insead of being a Limbaugh Lemming.

woodyTX

Feb 13, 2009 2:00 AM CST

Wow these threads get off topic into dissing so quickly ! I agree with you PosterNutbag. Obama is the guy "reality" above is referring to......the one who can see good and BS in all and from that stew is trying to do good for the country. As far as the 180 degree / small corrections stuff, I believe he will be implementing wise change and we did vote for change didn't we ?...........but for one you don't fight a forest fire with a water pistol (stimulus) and secondly we've seen 8 years of extreme right side politics (makes Bush 1 look like a DEM). The drift is just back to the center as far as I'm concerned and as PosterNutbag points out. Don't we really want better schools for our kids, education and income equality so we have more people contributing well to GDP growth, cost effective health care etc ? .....but...... we all need to participate more in our democracy to ensure we have good goverment that works, so all have the confidence that taxes are spent well. It's OUR government not some foreign agency !.........but then there will always be those who would rather spend their time branding some as commie's and socialists and others as fascists and nazis. The polarizing forces are so strong these days............

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Stimulus in the Bag, Obama Rethinks Strategy