Presidential Capital

Reader comment on: Reaction to ObamaCare Passing

Submitted by benjamin Geballe (United States), Mar 22, 2010 11:14

A common misconception about political capital is that you "spend" it. A more appropriate way to think about it is that you invest it. If you invest and win, you end up with more than when you began. The best book on this is by a Yale professor, Stephen Skowronek. But we can see evidence of this in past presidencies. Clinton was down after healthcare, and once he started building up wins on welfare and crime, he replenished his capital and went out with 60% approval. Bush won on the tax cuts, Iraq war votes and invested his capital in Social Security reform, which after it lost torpedoed the rest of his presidence (along with Katrina). Obama winning means he has more political capital to spend on the next item, probably financial reform.

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