Team Obama vs. Mitch McConnell, round two

Actually, per the photo above, it won’t be just Team Obama trying to work with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, aka the Turtle, during Obama’s second administration. The Wicked Warlock of the West, for this story line, will definitely impact the three gents in the picture, in large part through his promise to continue being an obstructionist.

First, Tin Man John Boehner. He’s got an even more radical GOP in the House of Representatives for the next Congress than he’s had the past two years. And, the only way he gets re-elected as Speaker is to suck up to them even more. Even if he wants to deal with Obama on a somewhat more moderate basis, and House rules don’t allow for a Speaker to be unelected, he is going to have a tough time finding compromise. That includes on the “sequester cliff” that is allegedly ahead, even though Obama’s own Catfood Commission idea is partially responsible.

A possible “silver lining” for Obama would be if he’s finally learned how to “work” Congress and can peel off moderate conservative Republicans (there are no truly moderate House Republicans) on some issues.

Arkansas Dorothy? I wasn’t totally joking. By the end of 2013, her public comments, and public interactions, will tell us more about whether or not she intends to seek the nomination in 2016, and if so, what her angle will be. Otherwise, the only woman I could think of to Photoshop was Nancy Pelosi, and couldn’t figure out a Mitch McConnell angle for her. In hindsight, Sen. Betty Crocker, Dianne Feinstein, would have been great. But, she’s not that recognizable.

But, since Nate Silver says Hispanic demographics and other things may give Dems a 3 percentage point advantage in popular vote split to winning 270 electoral votes, Hilary has to be entertaining sugar plum ideas about 2016.

Scarecrow Barry? Regular readers of my blog know my issues with him, and they start with him not having the gonads to stand up to Mitch the Turtle, on the one hand, and on the other, believing that he can charm birds out of the trees with his voice, messianic skills, etc. A sidebar to that issue is that I believe he’s overrated as an orator. Ironically, I think that is partially due to the “soft bigotry of low expectations” from following the oratorical disaster who first uttered those words, George W. Bush.

The Cowardly Reid? He raised Senate filibuster rules reform issues two years ago. Yes, it was partially old lions on his side of the aisle, as well as the GOP’s, who resisted. Fresh blood might go along. Some Democrats might say, “but what if we want to us it.” Problem is, you never have, not like the Turtle, and like junior Scarecrow Barrys, you never will.

Let’s see if he stands by his new promise to raise the issue.

Even Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute favors filibuster reform. He says start with requiring the minority party to have 40 warm bodies available to block cloture when they threaten filibuster would be a good starting point.