The decent thing for the President to do before running for re-election ...

[markpkessinger]

If the President had a shred of decency about him, he would, prior to the 2012 primary season, switch his party affiliation to the party whose policies his views are clearly aligned with and run for re-election as a Republican (perhaps a somewhat less liberal version of Richard Nixon).

This would accomplish a number of things. First, it would add some intellectual heft to the GOP field (which desperately needs an infusion of intellect), and it would free up the Democratic field, allowing Democrats to to nominate a real Democrat -- you know, the kind who aggressively stands up for core historic Democratic commitments.

But perhaps the most important thing it would accomplish is that it would confer a measure of intellectual honesty to the President.