The American Spectator

It’s imaginable that Obama, freed from the re-election need to pander to his leftist base, will either tame the House Republicans or learn to work with them the way Bill Clinton did. But there is little in his first term to suggest he has the skill to do the former or the inclination to do the latter. And in past negotiations with Congress, media cheerleading—references to him as “the adult in the room”—tended to bring out the worst in him.

Obama will also find it harder to blame George W. Bush for economic and other woes, especially after January 1, when tax increases and Obamacare provisions are scheduled to take effect. The Benghazi debacle, deferred by the media until after the election, could blow up into a serious scandal.

The recent history of presidential second terms is not a terribly promising one in any case. It includes Nixon’s resignation, the Iran-contra scandal, and Clinton’s impeachment. Remember when Bush declared in 2004 that he had earned “political capital,” then proceeded to spend it on a failed effort at Social Security reform? Hubris is as much a danger after an election as before it.