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Obama can learn from predecessors

By STEVEN E. SCHIER | 2/11/10 4:53 AM EST

Barack Obama’s approach to Congress in his presidency’s first 13 months has been counterproductive, failing to achieve several prominent legislative goals. Obama could learn from both of his predecessors about how to do it better, adopting strategies employed by Bill Clinton and tactics used so effectively by George W. Bush.

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Clinton and Bush both governed with Congress during highly polarized times but employed strategies different from those of Obama. Though Clinton tended in a liberal and partisan direction during his first two years in office, particularly with his ill-fated health care reform, he quickly changed course after the 1994 GOP takeover.

Clinton’s post-1994 strategy toward Congress was the polar opposite of Obama’s so far. Clinton adopted centrist stances on top agenda issues such as welfare reform and budget balancing and struck bipartisan accords with the Republican Congress. Coupled with a growing economy, these legislative successes helped propel him to reelection in 1996.

Bush, like Obama, usually worked with partisan allies in Congress. In contrast to Obama’s avowedly liberal agenda strategy, however, Bush often pushed for changes that were ideologically close to the center of the spectrum. His successful 2001 education reform, 2003 prescription drug bill and failed efforts at immigration reform in 2007 — major initiatives of his presidency — are examples of that.

Strategically, the Clinton and Bush presidencies provide multiple examples of how a substantive agenda close to the center yields success with Congress.

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