This is an interesting read, especially for those who have held, as I have, that Obama is more akin to an old fashioned Republican than a liberal Democrat (old fashioned or modern day):
Speaking of a potential irony ...
... President Barack Obama, whose low approval ratings may cost the Democrats their Senate majority, will connive with the new congressional majority to pass legislation opposed by most in his party.
These could include approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, fast-track authority on “free trade” agreements in Asia and Europe, cuts to benefits in Social Security and Medicare, and tax reform that lowers rates for corporations and high earners with only nominal compensation in closing of loopholes.
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A Republican majority could conceivably give him a chance to rehabilitate his reputation as a chief executive who presided over endless partisan gridlock.
This is a president, after all, whose administration bailed out rogue banks while leaving top management in charge to collect their multimillion-dollar bonuses, and which allowed banks that were too big to fail to get bigger and even more essential to the economy.
This is a president who has paid lip service off and on, usually at election time, to combating global warming, but who celebrates the environmentally contentious use of fracking to bolster the use of hydrocarbon fuels. While the administration has dragged its feet on a Keystone decision, it has not nixed it, either.
This is a president who dissed Bill Clinton as a minor figure in presidential history, but who has sought to emulate his predecessor in prioritizing deficit reduction over employment and promoting trade agreements that facilitate the global expansion of American firms at the expense of American jobs.
We'll see in very short order if Obama has this opportunity. Who among us would be surprised if Obama goes along with a Repub majority in the Senate on a number of issues the Dem majority thwarted? Not me, for one.