It adds to the perception that Obama isn't a competent, strong leader. This tax cut deal is what Obama should have been using his political capital on for the past 2 years, not on a health insurance mandate. He miscalculated and overreached because health insurance mandate has been his biggest pet project before he reached Washington DC and for that he suffers the political consequence. He should have tried create a coalition on less controversial issues like these tax rates and then attempt bigger pet projects near end of term. As he said himself, he'd rather be a "good 1-term president" than a "bad 2-term". He didn't go to DC for compromise and changing character of Washington, he did to advance an expansionist central government agenda. Now he's in this desperate almost powerless position where he has to bring on Bill to govern his own party. Pathetic.
Pathetic? I just fail to see that. It only comes off pathetic to those (like yourself) who are already predisposed to hate Obama and complain about him.
The tactic was used for two reasons:
1) To apply pressure to House Dmes
2) To steal the thunder of those against the bill going into the weekend (like Bernie Sanders) by putting a positive spin on the deal with Clinton for the media to talk about.
It accomplished those two objectives as the media started putting all the pressure on House Dems and analysts basically saying, "Well if Obama can get Bill to support it, I don't see what Pelosi can do." By the time the Sunday Morning talk shows rolled around, the House Dems were backpedaling.
It may have been an ugly move, but people don't remember the tactics...they remember results. What did he do or not do. In two years they won't be talking about Clinton, they'll be talking about this bipartisan compromise (that makes Obama look good) or that he couldn't get his own party in line and taxes went up in January (making him look bad).
The only people this matters to besides analysts and House members are anti-Obama junkies who love to ***** about Obama....and ***** they are doing.
I actually thought it was pretty impressive move for the president the last few weeks. From a position of weakness--after losing a historic midterm election--he negotiated a second mini-stimulus, a year-long extension of unemployment benefits, and a payroll tax freeze for the middle class. And he did this with Mitch McConnell, a man who has said numerous times the main goal of Republican senators is to make sure Obama is not reelected. It was such a positive take for those millionaire tax cuts gives, that the Tea Party is already booing and hissing at DC Republicans, causing Palin and Romney to smell blood in the water and to come out in phony opposition. Best of all Pelosi and the House Dems turned on him on it, so he looks like an adult and distances himself from the person that independents universally hate (Pelosi).
He gets his buddy Harry Reid in line, the Senate then passes it by a wide margin. And to break the House, he brings in Bubba. An ugly jump shot at the buzzer. But if it goes in, people will remember he won this particular game, not that he had an assist from old longhorn. In two years these will be the "Obama Tax Cuts" and the "Obama Extensions" not the Obama-Clinton ones.
In short, this is a non-issue because you guys need another reason to criticize.
P.S. If giving 32 million Americans health care insurance and ending pre-existing conditions is a "pet project" to the right, I'm even more disgusted by them. Obama's "pet project" is to save millions of lives and improve the quality of life in this country. The Republicans' "pet project" is to make sure millionaires and billionaires don't see their taxes go up 3 percent to where they were ten years ago. Now that is pathetic.