George Will: Other Than Nixon ‘Has There Ever Been a Worse First Year of a Second Term?’

November 10th, 2013 11:22 AM

Syndicated columnist George Will asked a marvelous question Sunday that few in the liberal media will.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Will said, “Has there ever – with the exception of Richard Nixon in 1973 - been a worse first year of a second term?” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: George, your thoughts about the President’s apology.

GEORGE WILL: Well, it’s one thing for Bill Clinton to say, “I feel your pain.” It’s another thing for Barack Obama to say, “I feel your pain that I have caused,” and for him to say it was caused by a situation. That’s the word he used in the operative sentence.

We this week marked the one year anniversary of his re-election. Has there ever – with the exception of Richard Nixon in 1973 - been a worse first year of a second term? The Pew survey this week has approval of his performance on healthcare – healthcare, his signature issue - disapproval 59 percent. That’s a little bit less than the 60 percent disapproval on immigration and 65 percent on the economy.

And now the Democrats are going to get to vote on some things maybe, or at least Mr. Reid will have to stop them in the Senate. Here’s for example the “If You Like Your Health Plan You Can Keep It Act” from Senator Ron Johnson. It’s four pages long which makes it 902 pages shorter than the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. And these are opportunities for discomfort for the supporters of the Affordable Care Act.

Fabulous question - one that virtually all media members and outlets would be asking if Obama had an "R" next to his name.

Funny how that works.