Politics
Obama second term bogged down with politics, local issues and external conflicts
The immigration debate encapsulates Obama’s paradoxical political plight: so toxic is his image among Republicans that his best chance of getting something done is stay on the sidelines.
Congressional opposition also shapes Obama’s strategy on tackling global warming, which he hopes to make a centerpiece of his second term.
Knowing climate change bills are dead on arrival in Congress, he ordered officials to write strict new rules to curb emissions at power plants.
He may also need to use executive power to bypass Congress to fulfill another promise renewed in his second term, closing the war on terror jail at Guantanamo Bay.
With big wins elusive, Obama may use his second term to secure earlier achievements for posterity, a common pursuit of two-term presidents.
This will require smooth implementation of Obamacare, and a continued slow mending of the US economy.
Obama got little kudos for containing economic meltdown when he took office in 2009, but his role, including saving the US auto industry, will draw more praise over time.
Abroad, cementing his legacy means Obama must wind down NATO combat in Afghanistan without leaving chaos behind. And he must also navigate the Iranian nuclear showdown and the war in Syria without again embroiling US forces in the Middle East.
Copyright 2013 AFP
