http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/22/inside-the-beltway-obama-in-legacy-protection-mode/print/The president shifts to ‘legacy protection mode’
By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Times - Monday, December 22, 2014
Voters are annoyed with the U.S. Congress and President Obama — though the lawmakers are currently worse off than the White House: 74 percent disapprove of the job performance on Capitol Hill compared to 54 percent who turn thumbs down at the president says a new Zogby poll. But a specific behavior is afoot.
"Mr. Obama is now clearly in full legacy protection mode. He is certainly not acting like a lame duck," says pollster John Zogby. "He needs to act to fulfill his promises on immigration, foreign policy, the environment, and the minimum wage — and to fulfill the promise that voters once saw in him."
The president's lofty numbers of the hope-and-change era have ebbed in key demographics, with six-out-of-10 all voters griping that the nation continues to be on the wrong track. "He will need to win back his base and this new poll shows how much he has to do," Mr. Zogby observes.
So what is the legacy? That has become a very popular parlor game in the press both here and abroad, as journalists parse the pros and cons of Obamacare, immigration, assorted judiciary scenarios, the war on terrorism, Cuba cordiality, the economy and complex matters involving executive orders. But the press itself, some say, will be a vital component to Mr. Obama's legacy.
Even at the end of November, radio host Rush Limbaugh noted that indeed, the legacy building was already underway, warning his audience, "The legacy is going to be only the last two years of the regime, not whatever came before, because that's a disaster. It's going to be fabricated, made up, and the media is going to do everything they can to write it, defend it, protect it, and prolong it."
