Looking for a Second-Term Fit

There are a few obvious now-we-can-finally-do-it items for a second term. At the top of the list: completing the president's pathetically slow evolution on same-sex marriage.

But for the most part, Obama's agenda for the second term is distinctly, disappointingly unspecific. That may be a problem common to re-election campaigns. After all, the incumbent president inevitably must devote time to defending his record, while the contours of the politically possible have narrowed from the first campaign. Recall Bill Clinton's 1996 combination of small-bore ideas and airy rhetorical bridges to the 21st century.

Meanwhile, the president who runs, or claims to have run, on a specific platform risks over-interpreting the election results. Recall George W. Bush a couple days after his 2004 re-election. "You asked do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said, citing Social Security and tax reform at the top of his to-do list. The capital turned out to be inadequate to either task.

For Obama, the shape of a second term, if he wins one, is likely to be defined early on -- indeed, even before the inauguration. The Bush tax cuts will expire. The debt ceiling will again need to be raised. The sequester of defense and domestic spending -- the result of the supercommittee's failure to find a rational alternative -- will finally take effect.

A responsible presidential campaign would focus on this coming "taxmageddon" and feature competing, detailed solutions. Instead, we're left with Obama touting the Buffett Rule (an inadequate answer) versus Romney peddling no-pain tax reform (all specific rate cuts, no specified pain).

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Obama seemed to hitch his second-term prospects to the notion that the election results will liberate him by liberating Republicans.

"My hope is that if the American people send a message to them ... and they suffer some losses in this next election, that there's going to be some self-reflection going on -- that it might break the fever," he said. "My hope is that after this next election, they'll feel a little more liberated" from the thrall of Rush Limbaugh and Grover Norquist.

Certainly, the president has lacked rational partners across the aisle. But I wonder how much a single election can change -- especially when both sides duck the painful choices ahead.

Maybe, if you want to wear the second-term socks, you've got to be willing to show a little leg.