Talk of the Town: Obama and LBJ

Obama and LBJ: Measuring the Current President Against the Past One’s Legacy (Dan Balz) from the Washington Post
"During the 2012 campaign, Obama’s advisers heard the same thing in focus groups with sympathetic voters. These voters had no truck with the Republican tactics of obstruction, but they wondered why Obama lacked whatever LBJ had. Why couldn’t Obama make the machinery work better? Why couldn’t he cajole and threaten and sweet talk and bully the Congress into action the way Johnson had? Obama is a far different person than Johnson. ... "
Oh SPARE ME the wonders of LBJ's brilliant leadership in Congress and his "history "of proposing and getting legislation through. You do not need to be a legislative genius to get big programs through congress when you have supermajorities in BOTH houses.   Does anyone even still remember what a supermajority in both houses looks like?! Let's look at the numbers: In LBJ's first full term, the Dems controlled the House 295 to 140 and the Senate 68 to 32. There were THIRTY-TWO Republicans in the Senate!!  For Obama, on his best day he had the House 257 to 178 and the Senate 58 to 42. In light of these numbers, it is an absurd comparison -- and I'm surprised that Balz (normally a fair and carefully nuanced reporter) gives so much attention to "atmospherics" and so little to these hard rock numbers of reality.  Moreover, the proof is in the pudding.  When LBJ's party lost a lot of congressional seats in 1966 (his majority in the House went to 248 to 187, Obama-like numbers) Great Society legislation largely ceased.  LBJ's legislative accomplishments in his last two years were quite modest.  What happened?  Did he stop having mint juleps with Hugh Scott or did he piss off Mike Mansfield?  NO.  Johnson simply did not have raw political power -- and neither has Obama since the very start.  Same comment for Dickerson's piece which is up next.