Obama’s Signals
December 7, 2010 - by
President Obama sent two signals about 2012 on today’s front page.
First, he’s going to contest North Carolina .
Second, he’s going to run the same way he ran the first time, even if it drives die-hard Democrats crazy: as an adult trying to rise above a Washington filled with immature partisans.
Despite what happened here this year, he’d be smart to try to win North Carolina ’s electoral votes again in 2012. There are over a million Democrats who voted for him in 2008 but didn’t vote in 2010.
The icing on the cake: If he wins North Carolina , he wins reelection. Electoral math says no Republican can be elected President without carrying this state. In fact, Obama gains by simply making a Republican fight for North Carolina .
As for his positioning, both his visit to Winston-Salem and his deal with Republicans on the tax cut show that he’s going back to what worked for him before: trying to unite Blue America and Red America.
That’s not what his party jihadists want. But it may be what the voters want in two years.
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Obama’s Signals
December 7, 2010/
![](https://talkingaboutpolitics.com/wp-content/plugins/bb-plugin/img/pixel.png)
President Obama sent two signals about 2012 on today’s front page.
First, he’s going to contest North Carolina .
Second, he’s going to run the same way he ran the first time, even if it drives die-hard Democrats crazy: as an adult trying to rise above a Washington filled with immature partisans.
Despite what happened here this year, he’d be smart to try to win North Carolina ’s electoral votes again in 2012. There are over a million Democrats who voted for him in 2008 but didn’t vote in 2010.
The icing on the cake: If he wins North Carolina , he wins reelection. Electoral math says no Republican can be elected President without carrying this state. In fact, Obama gains by simply making a Republican fight for North Carolina .
As for his positioning, both his visit to Winston-Salem and his deal with Republicans on the tax cut show that he’s going back to what worked for him before: trying to unite Blue America and Red America.
That’s not what his party jihadists want. But it may be what the voters want in two years.