A Very Bad Year

First Read: “Now that we’re into the final month of the year, it’s worth recapping
how rough 2013 has been for President Obama. The struggles with the
federal website (more on that below) have dominated the last two months,
and have sent his approval ratings to new lows. But before that, it was
the damaging NSA/Snowden leaks. Before that, it was the
IRS-Benghazi-leak stories (which have definitely lost their punch since
the summer). And before that, it was the failure to get gun-control
through the U.S. Senate.”

Dan Balz:
“This is hardly what Obama could have envisioned as he looked toward
his second term in the weeks after his reelection. He took his 51
percent popular vote… as a mandate to press forward with a progressive
agenda (although some around him warned not to over-interpret the
voters’ message). With much to accomplish, he sounded a note of
impatience in his inaugural address as he sketched out his ambitions.”