Second-Guessing?

A "Daily Dish" reader writes:

[The President's approach] seems to be confounding the political pundits on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, among others. For example, the political “experts” on CNN yesterday wondered why Obama let the Republicans in the House get the “upper hand” on the stimulus bill. They are still operating under the grudge expectations of the past (i.e., now that the Democrats are in charge they can take retribution against the Republicans). Obama clearly seems to want none of this. He really seems to mean it when he says that this bill is not “his” bill, but everyone seems to be skeptical. It’s understandable since Washington has operated in this mode of political revenge for so long now (at least since the Clinton years) that Democrats are waiting for him to give them the battle charge to vanquish the Republicans and Republicans are wondering when the veneer will drop and Obama will sucker-punch them. I admit that this, too, is my natural political inclination. But I learned during the primary and presidential campaigns that every time I second-guessed Obama by wanting him to play the game as it has always been played, he proved me wrong.

Change will not come in two weeks. It will be a long process that requires building trust first. He seems right now to be committed to this process and I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

Essentially, that is why I've been hesitant to post my thoughts on the stimulus bill. In its current form I don't think it is the best bill, and my worry is it won't be enough to generate the number of jobs America needs to pull herself out of the economic downturn, or to keep her competitive with the rest of the world as we enter the second decade of the 21st century. By extension, I worry that if the bill doesn't work to the fullest extent, Americans will (rightly) blame President Obama. So...I guess I'm thinking politically to 2012. "President Romney," "President Huckabee," and (oh god) "President Palin" scare the shit out of me. Needless to say, the administration and congress need to get this right.

I also think that if this bill is defeated in the Senate, it could derail Obama's presidency in the shorter term, weakening his administration for the next year or two. That's exactly what happened in 1993 when President Clinton tried to pass a stimulus bill to help get us out of a much weaker recession.

However...all of that said, I try my best to keep the trust. Over the last couple of years, every time I thought Barack Obama made a move that would knock him out politically, he surprised me and came out on top. As the Dish reader said above, I shouldn't second-guess Mr. Obama.

But if the bill isn't reconfigured to get rid of some of the more controversial elements, and then passed and on Obama's desk for a signature by Presidents Day weekend...