Obama simply does the same routine (only not nearly as humorously). The problem is, you can only do so much with that routine. If you say that everything ends in disaster (“Poor children unfed! Airplanes falling from the sky!”) every time someone has a contrary opinion, eventually people will start to tune you out. Even previously loyal members of the press corps are starting to call Obama out.

I’ve heard over and over that Obama’s main strategy is to make the Republicans look so bad they will lose their majority in the House in 2014. And there are some who will tout how successful Obama is with doing this by pointing out how poorly Congress is doing in the polls. But while Congress as a whole can be unpopular, the individual Representatives tend to be very popular in their home districts (how else would you explain Maxine Waters getting re-elected time and again?). I think this strategy is a loser for Obama and the Democrats, if only because people get tired of being afraid all the time. If the Republicans can put forward a candidate who projects true optimism after 6-to-8 years of divisive fear-mongering by this administration, the Democrats won’t stand a chance.

(Yes, I’m an optimist on this. Sue me.)