Obama vs Republicans: Will small government talk change voter perception?

This year marks do or die for the Democratic party. The “leftist” regime of President Obama and his blind, but faithful, Democrats are coming to an end as we know it. It’s obvious, otherwise the President wouldn’t have called Congress to approve him authorization to “make government leaner, smarter, and more efficient”, a plank which is considered blasphemy among many liberal Dems. Feeling the pressure from the disgruntled American voters, evidence of the dismal approval ratings of late, President Obama has decided to run on a more centrist platform – at least when it comes to the size of the federal government.

The press conference earlier today proved to be a success in the fact that it turned the spotlight away from Obama and the Democrats, and right onto the GOP leadership. I have to admit, this is a brilliant move, but it’s purely political. The goal of a one-term president is simply to make it to a second. So it’s no surprise that the President is all of a sudden “in touch” with the American public, specifically playing to the more right-winged Tea Party, a group which is mostly responsible for the Republican sweep of Congress in the 2010 mid-term elections.

But why brilliant?

Because it puts all the pressure on the majority leading Republicans in the House. If Congress (mainly Tea Party backed Republicans) were to deny the President authorization, it would depict them as big-government bureaucrats who only paid lip-service to small government principles in order to gain support and, ultimately, votes. However, if Congress allows it, then it will be a major political victory and a crucial enhancement to President Obama’s re-election campaign, marking him as a bi-partisan unifier. It’s a win-win scenario.

The decision will not be easy. The Republicans should adopt a strategy of “damage control”, choosing the option which prevents the most damage. It seems pretty obvious that the GOP would opt to allow this authorization and subsequently put some political spin on the issue. Though this is likely, GOP leadership may instead opt to go on the offensive by denying the proposal and charging the President with disingenuously adhering to independent voters, and possibly some conservatives, by making it appear he has shifted somewhat to the right of his leftist positions.

If President Obama had made this move earlier last year, it may have not raised doubts in my mind. He could’ve pulled off the idea that he honestly wanted to do what was right for the country. With the public’s general distrust of the government, this move could’ve spelled doom for the Republican party in 2012. However, with the Republican primaries well under way and the awareness of a coming general election in November, the President acted “too little, too late” now that all the voters’ attention is focused on the race for the GOP nomination.

In his attempt to attract swing voters with his small government rhetoric, he may have aroused more cynicism than anything else. Only time will tell.