Checkmate

Roger Cohen of the NYT puts in his two-cents about the election:

The blow to Obama is devastating. If he did not mean it when he said he found the defeat “humbling” he can forget about 2012. To win back the independents who deserted him in droves, he must now deliver jobs. Period.

He will have to do that from the Clintonian center, building business leaders’ confidence, coaxing them to spend some of their cash hoards. Monetary stimulus is near exhausted; another big fiscal stimulus is now unthinkable. Obama has to stimulate something intangible: confidence. America is not Japan. It is hard-wired to risk and growth. That’s a big potential asset.

He has others. Defeat is also opportunity. The Tea Party has freeloaded on rhetoric; now comes the reality check. O.K., Obama can say, you loathe big government, so how about raising the eligibility age for Medicare, or cutting back on Social Security or raising the retirement age to 70? Then watch the writhing begin.

Obama's options are very limited. Inspiring confidence, which is something he only does while campaigning, or pointing out the hypocrises of the Tea Partyers and Republicans, which will not work very well as long as the Senate remains in Democratic hands and leaves the Repubicans in the House someone else to blame for lack of results (which is one reason it probably should have gone Republican).

I don't see how he does it. His negative reputation is now 'cooked in' with probably a majority of the electorate.  How does he pivot from governing with a huge majority in Congress to little or nothing? He is effectively impotent, except for lamely reaching out to the obstreperous, obstructing Republicans, who basically despise him. Having beaten him to a political pulp, they now stand over him with nothing but a smirk on their face. To put it mildly, they will not help him in any way.  And frankly, he will look weak reaching out (i.e. begging) for their help.

There are probably only two viable options for Obama: do a 'Johnson' or do a 'Carter'.  Opt for one term and bow out 'gracefully', giving whatever successor arises (presumably Hillary) a fighting chance in '12; or hang in there and fight off any challenge from the party, and very possibly go down swinging. I don't think he'll opt for the former, so it's the latter that's likely, with all its Democratic internecine warfare and unhappiness (and probably defeat). 

Of course, he could also end up winning a second term, learn from his mistakes, and have a great second term....