Elections

Brooks: Obama’s ‘very clean administration,’ scandal-free first term signs of what’s to come

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
Font Size:

After President Barack Obama’s re-election victory Tuesday night, David Brooks that despite displaying “arrogance” at times, the “high integrity” and “very clean administration” of his first term will likely keep him free of second-term scandals.

“First of all, I would say if anybody is subject to overconfidence, I would say it’s Barack Obama,” the New York Times columnist said during the PBS News Hour post-election coverage. “But I do think there are a couple of things that are character-logical that will guard against some of the common flaws of second terms. First, he’s a man of high integrity who has run a very clean administration. You can argue with this or that or behavior. There have been signs of insularity and arrogance, but there have been no scandals. And the rate of scandals plaguing second terms is extremely high. I think he’s less prone to that.”

Obama has drawn criticism from many on the right over issues such as the so-called Fast and Furious gun walking scandal, the administration’s loan-guarantee program to bankrupt green energy company Solyndra, the Delphi pension scandal and the administration’s handling of the uprising in Benghazi.

Brooks also praised Obama on his handling of foreign affairs, and said Obama would have problems in figuring how to get past the gridlock in federal government.

“Second, he tended to be reasonably prudent especially in the realms of foreign affairs. And so, I don’t think he’s likely to do something rash, which is another common second term problem. I think some of the common second-term problems will probably not plague him. His problem will be getting anything done. We have had an election where we’re mad at government and let’s throw the bums back in.”

Follow Jeff on Twitter