New York: Somewhere along the way, the apostle of change became its target, engulfed by the same currents that swept him to the White House two years ago. Now, President Obama must find a way to recalibrate with nothing less than his presidency on the line.
The verdict delivered by voters on Tuesday effectively put an end to his transformational ambitions and left him searching for a way forward with a more circumscribed horizon of possibilities. Facing a hostile House with subpoena power and a diminished majority in the Senate, he will have to figure out the right blend of conciliation and confrontation to reassert authority and avoid defeat in 2012.
"He will read the results carefully and hear the messages the American people are sending," David Axelrod, the president's senior adviser, said in an interview. "I think he'll do that with care and with humility. But he's also very centered, and his impulse is to focus on what we do next and how we respond in a way that's constructive."
But fresh from their victories, Republicans may have little incentive to defer to Mr. Obama. "The American people have sent an unmistakable message to him tonight and the message is: change course," Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the incoming Republican speaker, said Tuesday night. In the days leading up to the election, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
"The president is somebody who knows he's not going to have his way on these things, that he needs Republicans and he has the ability to reach out to them," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the most prominent Republican in the administration.
Mr. Obama finds himself in a similar position to his two most recent predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, each of whom endured a midterm election that handed Congress to the opposition. While distinguished by different factors, each of those elections was cast as a referendum on the president. Thirty-eight percent of voters in exit polls on Tuesday said they cast their vote to express opposition to Mr. Obama, compared with 24 percent who said they were trying to support him -- almost identical to the numbers for Mr. Bush four years ago.
Strategists on both sides said the lessons of the past offered only limited utility. As politically toxic as the atmosphere in Washington was in the 1990s, the two sides appear even more polarized today. The Republicans may be more beholden to a Tea Party movement that abhors deal cutting, while Mr. Obama has not shown the same sort of centrist sensibilities that Mr. Clinton did and presides in a time of higher unemployment and deficits.
That remains to be determined, but he can expect a rough two years. If nothing else, both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush saw what can happen when the other side gets subpoena power. Legitimate oversight and political fishing expeditions can both take their toll.
"Even when carefully managed, these investigations can be distracting to senior White House officials," said W. Neil Eggleston, who was a White House lawyer under Mr. Clinton and later represented an aide to Mr. Bush during a Congressional inquiry.
Still, Mr. Obama wields the veto pen, and his Democratic allies in the Senate will provide a firewall against Republican initiatives. The possibility of gridlock looms. And in the White House, there is hope that Republicans descend into fratricide between establishment and Tea Party insurgents, while Mr. Obama presents himself as above it all.
Former Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia, said it was hard to see Mr. Obama finding common cause with Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio or Senator McConnell, the Republican leaders.
"Obama's denigrated Boehner and McConnell by name -- not very presidential," Mr. Davis said. Moreover, both sides will have to answer to partisans on the left and the right with little interest in compromise.
"There's going to be a lot of posturing to the base," Mr. Davis said. "I think it's going to be ugly, at least at first."
The verdict delivered by voters on Tuesday effectively put an end to his transformational ambitions and left him searching for a way forward with a more circumscribed horizon of possibilities. Facing a hostile House with subpoena power and a diminished majority in the Senate, he will have to figure out the right blend of conciliation and confrontation to reassert authority and avoid defeat in 2012.
"He will read the results carefully and hear the messages the American people are sending," David Axelrod, the president's senior adviser, said in an interview. "I think he'll do that with care and with humility. But he's also very centered, and his impulse is to focus on what we do next and how we respond in a way that's constructive."
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But fresh from their victories, Republicans may have little incentive to defer to Mr. Obama. "The American people have sent an unmistakable message to him tonight and the message is: change course," Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the incoming Republican speaker, said Tuesday night. In the days leading up to the election, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
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"The president is somebody who knows he's not going to have his way on these things, that he needs Republicans and he has the ability to reach out to them," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the most prominent Republican in the administration.
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Mr. Obama finds himself in a similar position to his two most recent predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, each of whom endured a midterm election that handed Congress to the opposition. While distinguished by different factors, each of those elections was cast as a referendum on the president. Thirty-eight percent of voters in exit polls on Tuesday said they cast their vote to express opposition to Mr. Obama, compared with 24 percent who said they were trying to support him -- almost identical to the numbers for Mr. Bush four years ago.
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Strategists on both sides said the lessons of the past offered only limited utility. As politically toxic as the atmosphere in Washington was in the 1990s, the two sides appear even more polarized today. The Republicans may be more beholden to a Tea Party movement that abhors deal cutting, while Mr. Obama has not shown the same sort of centrist sensibilities that Mr. Clinton did and presides in a time of higher unemployment and deficits.
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That remains to be determined, but he can expect a rough two years. If nothing else, both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush saw what can happen when the other side gets subpoena power. Legitimate oversight and political fishing expeditions can both take their toll.
"Even when carefully managed, these investigations can be distracting to senior White House officials," said W. Neil Eggleston, who was a White House lawyer under Mr. Clinton and later represented an aide to Mr. Bush during a Congressional inquiry.
Still, Mr. Obama wields the veto pen, and his Democratic allies in the Senate will provide a firewall against Republican initiatives. The possibility of gridlock looms. And in the White House, there is hope that Republicans descend into fratricide between establishment and Tea Party insurgents, while Mr. Obama presents himself as above it all.
Former Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia, said it was hard to see Mr. Obama finding common cause with Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio or Senator McConnell, the Republican leaders.
"Obama's denigrated Boehner and McConnell by name -- not very presidential," Mr. Davis said. Moreover, both sides will have to answer to partisans on the left and the right with little interest in compromise.
"There's going to be a lot of posturing to the base," Mr. Davis said. "I think it's going to be ugly, at least at first."
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