American - Journalist | 1963 -
Barack Obama won a second term but no mandate. Thanks in part to his own small-bore and brutish campaign, victory guarantees the president nothing more than the headache of building consensus in a gridlocked capital on behalf of a polarized public.
Ron Fournier
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Obama is capable - as evidenced by his first-term success with health care reform. But mandate-building requires humility, a trait not easily associated with him.
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Obama ran a hard-edged and negative campaign against Romney, hoping to convince recession-weary voters that his rival was unworthy of the job.
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A concrete agenda and landslide victory might not even guarantee a president his mandate in a capital as polarized as Washington.
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If history is a guide, a victory for Obama means he faces the prospect of a second term dogged by scandal or inertia.
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Romney and Democratic rival President Obama have led their partisan backers down a trail of lies, negativity and vacuous policies that seem certain to guarantee an angry electorate four more years of gridlock.
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This is Romney's biggest political weakness. His policy flip-flops and the general sense that he's not comfortable in his own skin leads voters, including many supporters, wondering about his core values.
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Every now and then, a presidential candidate surprises us with a truly human and honest moment.
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most influential woman in Washington - for what she has accomplished and for what she may yet do: win the presidency.
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Close elections tend to break toward the challenger because undecided voters - having held out so long against the incumbent - are by nature looking for change.
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Voters don't have to love him, Romney advisers say, but they will respect him.
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Republicans would have preferred the court overturn the health care bill, an act that would have underscored Obama's biggest liability - the perception among voters, including those who like and trust him, that he has been ineffective.
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