Give 'em hell Barry

I HAD A FEELING that President Obama would "bring it" tonight. And that he did. Pitching his "American Jobs Act" before Congress, Obama went all old school and delivered a stemwinder, possibly one for the books.

Among other things, a fiery Obama said:

"Now, I know there’s been a lot of skepticism about whether the politics of the moment will allow us to pass this jobs plan -- or any jobs plan. ... Already, the media has proclaimed that it’s impossible to bridge our differences. And maybe some of you have decided that those differences are so great that we can only resolve them at the ballot box. But know this: The next election is 14 months away. And the people who sent us here -- the people who hired us to work for them -- they don’t have the luxury of waiting 14 months. ... They need help, and they need it now."

Gauntlet thrown. Even the whiny lefties are passing around the old Kool-Aid. "Obama Goes Big!" and "Them's Fighting Words!" screamed two HuffPo headlines. And who needs pundit assessments when this TPM reader captured the president's performance perfectly: "Obama's demeanor was serious, focused, angry, and determined. It wasn't Obama being 'back'; this was a new face of Obama. This is reelection Obama." Greg Sargent observed that if this approach "is an indication of what’s to come, things could get very interesting. He drew a strong contrast with the conservative vision." Not only did Obama re-seize the political initiative, he brilliantly created a win-win scenario for himself. If Congress enacts his jobs plan, he wins. If it doesn't, he still wins (because the GOP will get the blame). In other words, "Meep, meep, motherfuckers," as one Daily Beast reader bluntly put it.

The most dangerous line in Obama's speech for Republicans came toward the end: “[T]his plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of this country.” This signals two things. First, this president learns from his mistakes. As Andrew Sullivan noted, "Obama has somehow finally matched his campaign rhetoric to a clear policy agenda." That's a potent combo. Secondly, Obama just kicked off his reelection campaign. In an earlier, pre-speech post I threw cold water on Time's Joe Klein for dumbly saying that Obama "simply isn’t a top-draw politician." This speech, and the ones to come, are why. Never, ever count this guy out. The road to Rome is littered with the metaphorical corpses of those who did.