Obama to Dems: Don't Forget, It's All About Me

This sort of thing amazes me.  How do people not see these sorts of things as self-indulgent, narcissistic, opportunistic, everyone-else-be-damned it's all about me 'leadership'.  President Obama is nothing if not out for himself.  Asking Democrats to fall on their swords so he could get his health care was one example.  Now this. After brokering some compromise with Republicans, who incidentally didn't need to cut a deal, on extending the Bush Tax Rates (let's stop calling them cuts, because they are no longer cuts), President Obama apparently told lawmakers that his Presidency was on the hook if the deal didn't get passed.  He's probably right, but is that his closing argument?  The closing argument isn't that the country couldn't afford a double dip recession because of tax hikes imposed during a fragile recovery?  As The Hill points out, perhaps inadvertently, for Obama this is all about President Obama;

Obama is telling members of Congress that failure to pass the tax-cut legislation could result in the end of his presidency, Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) said.

"The White House is putting on tremendous pressure, making phone calls, the president is making phone calls saying this is the end of his presidency if he doesn't get this bad deal," he told CNN's Eliot Spitzer...

During the end of the healthcare debate, Obama reportedly told Democrats upset that the bill did not contain a public healthcare option that not passing it could put his presidency on the line and stall the liberal agenda for decades.

As they say in Latin, 'res ipsa loquitur'. I'm not sure who is busy speaking Latin outside of the Roman Catholic Church, but if they were, somebody would be saying it.

Michael Goodwin's Take On Obama's Tax Cut Deal

In a seemingly after thought addendum to his article on how Hillary Clinton blew it by signing on with Obama in 2008, Michael Goodwin offers great insight into Obama's anger as it relates to his tax cut compromise. Here it is - succinct, and bang on;

After watching President Obama give two speeches and a press conference in two days, I can now confidently summarize his logic on the tax deal.

Republicans are evil for making him do it. And Democrats are stupid for not understanding why he did it.

In other words, he's moral and wise, and you're not.

To call Obama's performance unpresidential doesn't do justice to his shotgun fury. After lashing out yesterday at his base -- The New York Times editorial page, "purists," liberals and "sanctimonious" Democrats -- he accused Republicans of holding tax cuts for the wealthy as "their Holy Grail." He also charged them with "hostage taking" because they insisted on blocking tax hikes for any Americans.

Read it here in the NY Post.  My take, although I didn't get into some of Goodwin's first points, was similar.

Politically, the fallout is interesting.  It seems like this could be the start of an Obama shift to the center, at least visually.  The criticism from the left reinforces that dynamic.  Still, I think the pettiness on display is going to alienate a lot of people and harm him rather than hurt him in the long run.