A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do

Clarity affords focus. As usual, it takes a political scientist to cut through the debt ceiling bull. In this case, it is Harvard-trained Matthew Dickinson of Middlebury College: "My point is simple. Obama had two imperatives during this fight: prevent a default and get this issue off the table until after 2012. Period. To achieve that he would have gone as far Right as the Democratic Left would allow. And, in the end, he pretty much did and he accomplished his two objectives. In short, this is probably the best deal Obama was going to negotiate. ... I’m not saying Obama handled this flawlessly, although I’m hard pressed to point out obvious specific errors. But the result was always likely to come out pretty much where it did, when it did. I said as much, weeks ago." Once again, Mr. Obama is playing the long game. Optics-wise, the Republicans are the short-term winners. Their hostage-taking approach to policymaking paid dividends. But come 2012, voters will remember the extortion. As the reasonable adult, Obama will emerge as the long-term winner. Yes, winning isn't everything. In the world of politics, to paraphrase the famous riposte, it's the only thing.