Obama as a one-termer?

Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA) told a town-hall meeting in his district that President Obama had said to him in a private meeting that he would make sure health reform passes, even if it costs him a second term.

Boswell had been hosting a relatively civil town hall meeting, but many of his constituents were arguing against the proposed bills in congress and he had to remind the citizens that there wasn't yet a bill to support, just committee drafts, and that he believes health care reform needs to happen. Although he did reiterate that he may end up voting against the bill saying it's "very possible" that the end bill may be something that he can't vote for.

Boswell is a member of the more conservative Democratic "blue-dog" caucus that became a household name before the August reccess for their demands in the House Energy and Commerce committee to bring down the total pricetag and ensure more effective cost controls. He said that the comments from The President came in a meeting with other members of the blue-dog caucus at The White House, and he spoke about the president's comment in a brief Q&A with reporters after the event:

"The president (said), 'I'm not going to kick the can down the road.' And he said that and I said, 'Well, that's something I'm kind of used to from southern Iowa, you know. I know about kicking the can down the road.' And he said, 'No, if it makes me a one-term president, I'm going to, we're going to take it on because the country is in need of us taking this on.' I respected that very much."

Other Presidents such as Bill Clinton have come back from rocky and contentious first years to have very successful administrations, but with Health Care Reform becoming less and less popular with the public and Cap and Trade legislation stalling in the Senate, the President will need sweeping support on other domestic intiatives, or a dramatic improvement in the economy, to help his re-election chances.

On the other hand, despite most pundits' thoughts on the contrary I think the 2012 election is going to be a lot more about what's happening in 2012 then what happened in 2009.