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" To be fair, my analysis failed to spell out Obama's first-term accomplishments, although I did acknowledge his 'enormous skills' and tried to focus readers on the distinction between good and great presidencies. "

Ron Fournier

Spell

Focus

Good

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" Andrew Jackson was the first president to claim that the desires of the public overrode Congress's constitutional prerogatives. Virtually every president since Jackson has claimed the mantle, even while lacking two ingredients of an electoral mandate: a landslide victory and a specific agenda. "

" Election night is the easiest time to act like a grownup. "

" A dose of humility goes a long way in life and in politics. "

" Most political journalists come to Washington because they're snappy writers, big thinkers, or news breakers. Me? My ticket to the big leagues had little to do with talent. It was mostly about the governor I was covering, Bill Clinton. "

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" AP promoted me to the White House beat because I knew Clinton, his family, friends, and staff better than anybody in the national press corps. Those contacts helped me break a few stories and get my career in Washington jump-started. "

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" A concrete agenda and landslide victory might not even guarantee a president his mandate in a capital as polarized as Washington. "

" Christie led the way - with a bulldozer. The governor is blunt, brash, and self-consciously authentic, the antithesis to what turns off today's voters: flip-flopping politicians who speak in poll-tested platitudes. Yes, he's the anti-Romney. "

" Obama won the presidency on the strength of his message and the skills of the messenger. Now the talk of hope and change feels out of tune when so many Americans are out of work, over-mortgaged, and worried that life will be even tougher for their children. "

" President George W. Bush won reelection in 2004 largely because he was seen as comfortable in his own skin, while rival John Kerry was viewed as a flip-flopping opportunist. "

" Like a cowboy saddling a bucking stallion, Republican leaders tried to tame the Tea Party while riding it to victories. "

" Political reporters and political professionals rushed to judgment against Romney because we crave clear, unambiguous story lines. "

" Historians will likely give Obama credit for steering the country away from the brink of economic collapse in 2009. "

" Once a popular Alaska governor with a modest record of accomplishment, Palin could conceivably revive her reputation in this era of short memories. But it's hard to imagine her name atop the GOP ballot in 2016, when a cast of heavyweights who sat out 2012 will be vying for the nomination. "

" It's a deft trick to turn American exceptionalism into an exceptional political tactic. "

" It's a bit unfair to accuse Obama of dividing the nation when the facts show that it already is. "

" Shock, confusion, fear, anger, grief, and defiance. On Sept. 11, 2001, and for the three days following the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, President George W. Bush led with raw emotion that reflected the public's whipsawing stages of acceptance. "

" Don't stigmatize in a rush to explain inexplicable evil. "

" President Obama is casting his lot in the middle of a debate as old as America itself: Are we rugged individualists pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps? Or are we a nation of community, all connected and counting on one another? "

" American exceptionalism is the recurring character in the nation's narrative. "

" Since declaring that she would not serve in a second Obama administration, Clinton has dismissed suggestions that she will run in 2016. "

" Obama might do well to remember that his fast rise from the Illinois state Senate was due in large part to an uncanny ability to make friends and find mentors. "

" Got good news and bad news for you, Mr. President. The good news is that Chief Justice John Roberts just saved your legacy and, perhaps, your presidency by writing for the Supreme Court majority to rule health care reform constitutional. "

" The problem, gentlemen, is that Obama is right: The promise of upward mobility is dying in America, and no amount of political demagoguery will fix it. "

" At the start of his second term, one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization? "

" Most Tea Party activists consider Obama a big-spending liberal. Some even question his eligibility to be president. "

" The question is whether voters, particularly independents, believe that Obama truly values personal liberty and responsibility as much as the government-bought safety net. "

" Voters don't have to love him, Romney advisers say, but they will respect him. "

" Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt faced adversities that, in their times, seemed impregnable. Great presidents overcome great odds. "