Why Obama is in a hurry to make history

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From Newsweek

Hardball host Chris Matthews has a theory about Barack Obama: he is running his presidency as though there is no tomorrow—that is, no second term. Matthews, my friend and MSNBC colleague, points to something Obama said during his interview with Diane Sawyer back in January: “The one thing I’m clear about is that I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.”

So far in his presidency Obama has been tackling, even seeking out, sweeping, controversial challenges: the stimulus, the auto bailout, health-care reform, a new arms-control treaty with Russia. He still wants to deal with comprehensive energy and immigration legislation this year. So, is he in hurry because he figures there may be no second term?

Well, my answer is this: Obama is playing a deep, longer-range game, one that involves burnishing his identity as a “historical,” history-making figure. The president is swinging for the fences because that is what home-run hitters do. He hopes (expects) voters will reward him for the effort. Hence, his focus on the toughest topics in the broadest way. To switch sports analogies, if he were an Olympic diver, he’d always be attempting the dives with the highest degree of difficulty. If the execution isn’t perfect, he gets a higher score anyway.

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