President Obama has distanced himself from the congressional supercommittee — politically and geographically — in a strategy aimed at avoiding political risk rather than putting his leadership on the line for a long-shot deal, analysts say.
“Politically, staying out of the supercommittee dynamic was much better for him than jumping into it,” said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “Washington’s going to take a hit” for the committee’s failure to reach an agreement.
Ever since the 12 supercommittee members were appointed this summer, observers gave the panel a low chance of succeeding in its goal of finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years. Mr. Obama engaged in testy and ultimately fruitless talks with House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, during the spring and summer’s debt-ceiling dispute and thus had a close view of the entrenched positions of Democrats and Republicans.
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