Ready for Day One

President Barack Obama shortly before taking the oath of office. (Source: Getty Images)

Immediately following President Barack Obama’s formal swearing in, some of his aides made their way to the White House to begin laying the groundwork for Day One. Although Obama must spend the rest of the day being feted, he has already scheduled Wednesday meetings with both his economic and national security teams. There is no time to waste and as we saw with his transition, Obama will hit the ground running.

“Now the trouble starts. Obviously the big thing he’s dealing with is an economic plan, and there’s every indication that he clearly understands the importance of taking advantage of this window of opportunity right now when the American people are hungry for leadership and Congress is on its heels. I think we’ll see a full court press,” says Colby College American government professor Calvin Mackenzie.

Having Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House, will help pave the way for an economic stimulus and recovery plan that Obama wants to see on his desk by mid-February. But that doesn’t mean passing the legislation will be easy, and Vanderbilt University political scientist David Lewis predicts there will be a few bumps on the road to its passage. “These are people with longstanding legislative careers who have their own opinions about what’s necessary for economic recovery,” says Lewis.

“They see there’s money coming and it can be used for a variety of purposes, whether it’s tax cuts or infrastructure projects and they all have projects they think are worth federal dollars.” Lewis anticipates that there will be some lawmakers who will fight hard for their piece of the pie, which will impact Congress’s ability go push legislation through the two chambers quickly. “The tendency is to take longer than the president wants, but Obama will be pushing because the longer it takes, the longer it will take for economic recovery to occur,” Lewis adds.

Winning Republican support will also be critical to any legislation that gets passed. American voters would view Obama and his fellow Democrats critically if they appear to be forcing through legislation.  As MacKenzie notes, be a collective enterprise so lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can claim both ownership and blame. “The more stakeholders you can get, the better,” he says.

Georgetown political scientist Stephen Wayne agrees. “He’s trying to build a bipartisan base and hopes that will hold at least through the first year. If his policies have a positive effect on the economy and relations abroad, it will enhance his image,” says Wayne.

Encouraged by Obama to share their concerns and ideas, Republicans on Capitol Hill have formed a working group to do just that. My advice to my fellow Republicans is where we agree with him in principle we have to do everything we can to make the policies succeed. We cannot

make a political decision and have to vote for what’s in the best interest of the country,” says Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan).  “But where we disagree with him in principle, we have to come up with more constructive alternatives. If he can also do that himself we’ll have a very functional relationship and help America get through a difficult time. ”

As many political pundits and even a few of Obama’s own advisers have observed, crises can also create great opportunities. For that reason, Mackenzie believes that Obama would be wise to wrap issues such as social security and other entitlement reforms into the economic stimulus plan. “Anything you can put forward under the cloak of economic stimulus is going to have a better time getting enacted in Congress than a [stand-alone] big tax and spend liberal program,” Mackenzie says. An expensive health care program could be an easier sell as part of the stimulus plan if it’s done while so many Americans are losing jobs and health insurance.

“Never waste a crisis,” says Wayne. “Obama has good will from the election. He’s the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to win 51% and has very big crises and problems on his plate. He has to take advantage.”

Although escalating Middle East violence has dominated recent headlines, Mackenzie believes that early on, Mackenzie anticipates that initially Obama will rely on his national security team to handle the day-to-day responsibilities, chiming in as necessary. There may be a time down the road when he will have to issue a statement or make some sort of peace overature, says Mackenzie, “But I just can’t believe that foreign policy is going to be at the top of his agenda in the very early part of the administration except so far as it presents itself in a way that he as to deal with it such as a threat or attack on the U.S.”