Tell me if you've heard this story before -
Republicans, led by Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley, pressed their advantage by moving the goalposts to reach a "compromise" sought so desperately by President Bartlett. Bartlett, losing the war of public opinion, is viewed as weak and prepared to cave to Republican demands at the cost of his own agenda and to the detriment of social programs designed to help unfortunate Americans still suffering from the economic downturn. Bartlett offers to meet Republicans on their turf and on their terms, but Republicans keep yanking his chain.
Oh wait...
Apologies if anyone has written already about the similarities between The West Wing and recent real life events, but the last several days have hit me like a bad case of deja vu. Eric Cantor even looks like Speaker Haffley (played by Steven Culp).
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://westwing.wikia.com/...
So Republicans (the real ones), coming off a huge electoral win, are full of hubris and demand that the President agree to extend all the tax cuts. Obama, learning all the wrong lessons from the election, telegraphs his willingness to cave to all Republican demands. So Republicans gladly add more demands to be met so that Obama has to keep caving and caving. It's not about the tax cuts anymore, it's about spending cuts too.
Obama is reaching out and offering to meet Republicans to discuss how they can work together (i.e. how he can cave to their demands) and Republicans keep yanking his chain, postponing the meeting because of schedule conflicts.
In The West Wing, President Bartlett reaches his breaking point and walks away when Haffley forces him to wait in the hallway in an arrogant show of contempt. President Bartlett then goes on the offensive, and ultimately forces the Republicans to back down, and causing Haffley to lose face and power in the process.
I'd be lying if I thought Obama could pull of the same trick. But then again, the guy is smart. So who knows.
I don't mean to suggest that real life is as simple as a fictional show. It's not, and there won't be some dramatic turning point with uplifting music to signify that we have reached the climax of the story. But it wouldn't be the first time that life imitated art imitating life.