Will the Administration be able to recover from these attacks and go on the offensive?

[kentuck]

Or will they be playing defense right thru the next election?

Will they finally show some fight if their very survival is at stake?

Or will they try to work out some type of deal with "reasonable" Republicans?

What do you see in your crystal ball?

[GeorgeGist]

1. Obama. Offense?

Not a chance. IMO.

[msongs]

3. obama and repubs = the story of the snake "take me in tender woman, take me in for heavens sake" nt

[el_bryanto]

2. I think that maybe the irs thing will go big

and if it does that'll cripple the Administration. Might even lead to Impeachment; although if it does that'll probably backfire. The rest of it I think the Administration can handle.

Bryant

[tridim]

4. Benghazi is blowing up as we type. False emails.

It's about a day away from becoming a very real Republican/RW media problem.

The IRS thing will be dead by next week. There is nothing there.

[ProSense]

5. It'll be like

"Will the Administration be able to recover from these attacks and go on the offensive?"

...the first debate, with a lot of Democrats declaring the end of the Obama Presidency, even trying to provide talking points to support the RW scandalathon.

True will prevail.

[Johonny]

6. There is no recovery

The House of not actually representing us is unlikely to act on any legislature that would remotely interest liberals. My crystal ball says we are going to relive the Clinton ear again; where the market is doing ok, the press covers every fake controversy, and the American people disengage from politics because politicians stop talking about things that remotely interest them. Obama will continue to run the executive branch effectively until mid 2014 where he will have an option to run hard against this congress or once again face another 2 years of existing but not exactly effecting our lives.

[Life Long Dem]

7. I see none of these scandals having any legs.

Seems all this is coming out after the background check bill where we see the polls dropping on some Republicans. Bring back the bill and lets watch the polls continue to drop on them.

[Gregorian]

8. I see a country that used to be united around America. Now it's just a game.

Although that time may have been confined to small periods. Like World War 2. Certainly not during the Civil War.

We could use a little less self interest, and a lot more civil unity.

[alsame]

9. This administration does not seem to

have a strong damage control team.

Whenever a Bushco scandal broke, there were scores of GOP all over TV and radio defending everything.

I see nothing similar with the Obama admin and I'm not sure why that is - does the WH not reach out to people or are Dems too scared and are just keeping their distance?

[tridim]

10. Perhaps that's because BushCo's scandals were actual scandals.

Ya think?

[alsame]

11. No. This admin should have

lots of spokespeople out there to speak the truth and refute all the GOP spin. I saw it during the campaigns, but not now.

Again, I don't know why that is, but there are very few people giving the WH narrative on anything.

[tridim]

12. Because it gives the impression of guilt, or at the very least the impression of involvement in...

...Faux scandals cooked up by Republicans. Let the asshole Republicans squirm.

That said, Obama and Carney have both been out calmly refuting the GOP spin. Having the entire Democratic party running around like headless chickens in reaction to GOP bullshit is exactly what we don't need.

[Egalitarian Thug]

13. It's war dammit, we're going to have to offend somebody!

I don't expect anything in this administration to change at all for the next three years. They successfully avoided any action that might be construed as leading for over four years, and once they lose more ground in the mid-terms the only difference I predict will be that the helpless-excuse machine will get a turbo charger.

[JaneyVee]

14. Keep focus on jobs, education, healthcare, environment, immigration reform.

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. Not if you can help it! Right?

[kentuck]

17. I can't help it ...

If you can't handle the truth. You and milquetoast are all they need to win the war.

[datasuspect]

16. you mean he hasn't apologized, bowed, scraped, and offered up, "yes, yes, I took a shellacking!!!!"?

"THEY LIKE ME, THEY REALLLLY LIKE ME!!!!!!"

[villager]

18. When has this Administration *ever* gone on the "offensive?"

They're terrified of "offending" their political opponents!

[truebluegreen]

19. +1000

[ljm2002]

20. They do not seem to know how to go on offense...

...President Obama's statements yesterday re: the IRS "scandal" and the Benghazi issue showed that clearly. First, he pre-apologized for the IRS thing, making sure to say how outraged he'll be if it turns out to be true. Then, he talked about Benghazi, but instead of reaming the Republicans a new one, he said some milquetoasty thing like "C'mon, we've already heard this before, and there's nothing there". Which is true, but hardly a spirited defense, much less an offense. An offense would be to point out how many embassy attacks and deaths occurred during the Bush administration. An offense would be pointing out that the Republican Congress cut funding for embassy security around the world -- over the strenuous objections of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

But no, we get a tepid defense, and no offense at all.