George Friedman of STRATFOR has posted another incisive article today: On Obama and the Nature of Failed Presidencies. Friedman defines a "failed" presidency as one where the President has begun to lose support from his/her base, and so is no longer trying to garner support from the undecided middle but just trying to keep support from the base (though in Obama's case, it is not clear to me that he has ever really tried to court the middle). President Obama's approval ratings have been in the mid to high 30% level from many months now, indicating that a significant proportion of his base is now disenchanted with him.
As Friedman says, STRATFOR doesn't generally comment on domestic politics, but in the case of a lame-duck "failed" presidency with both the Senate and the House now in opposition hands, there are significant implications for US foreign policy, for what the president now can and can't do, and for how international opponents like Putin or Iran are likely to react to him, which is what Friedman examines.
Another thoughtful article.
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