I think Obama has bought into his own hype. He’s surrounded by so many sycophants and media cheerleaders that he doesn’t believe his policies are as unpopular as they really are and he doesn’t realize the jeopardy his presidency is in.
I think that if he faces, and knows he faces, the choice between achieving his policy goals and getting a second term, he’ll go with the second term. The problem is that he still thinks he can have both. He’ll probably continue to think that right up until 2 November 2010, the events of which are going to be difficult for his handlers to explain away.
Obama is a tool - a very disposable tool once his liabilities exceed his value as a mouthpiece and a destroyer. There’s your Reichstag Fire event...