Campaign 2012 begins today

Earlier today, as a direct result of yesterday's election returns, President Obama did somthing that he's been refusing to do for months: he acknowledged his own unpopularity. In his speech, the President acknowledged that he felt humbled by the Democrats' predictable failure in the midterm elections, and stated that he would be willing to work with the new Republican majority in the House. This can easily be viewed as an Obama who has finally decided to read the writing on the wall, but that's not what I make of it.

As a cynic when it comes to political figures, I'm inclined to view Obama's remarks today as the first move of his 2012 campaign for re-election. When you look at it that way, it's a smart political move; and if I'm right about what the Prez is up to, I think it's likely to work.

So what could Obama's plan be? If he's conceding his own lack of popularity, doesn't that make him look weak and un-re-electable? Sure, for now. But as any successful politician knows, the electorate has a short memory. The current political climate means nothing in terms of predicting that of 2012 in the same way that what happened in 2008 said nothing about what's happening now. Like any great campaigner, Obama and his posse are thinking two steps ahead.

I think that from today until 2012, we're going to see a much less ambitious Mr. President who is willing to meet the Republicans half way on many issues. Not only does this make Obama the kind of guy who voters presumably want him to be (or at least say that they do, which may ultimately mean nothing), but it puts the Republicans in Congress in a tough spot: they compromise with Obama, thereby becoming a party to any failed policy that they'd prefer to use to criticize him; or, they refuse to compromise, thereby exposing themselves to the criticism that they are getting nothing done and exposing them as part of the same old partisan system that the voters claim to despise while playing right in to. It puts them in a real pickle.

Of course, I might be wrong. One thing's for sure, if Obama doesn't make some kind of major change in his approach, he may be dooming himself to a one-term presidency. Despite comments that he's made to the contrary, I don't think he'd be okay with that. Then again, even if Obama maintains his lack of popularity among voters, there are conceivable ways that the Republicans could screw things up in '12, the most obvious of those being to come at us with Palin or some Palin-esque nominee who, while appealing to conservatives, would scare moderates into voting for an unpopular President who they at least know that they can live with.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that despite all of the anti-Dem furror displayed in this election, 2012 is still political lightyears away. It's anyone's ballgame, and Obama has made a brilliant first move. Of course, that's assuming we'll all still be here.