elections. many people may just remember the flurry of activity at year s end. cnn s deputy political director paul steinhauser takes a look. it was a december to remember for president barack obama. from a tax cut compromise to repealing don t ask don t tell to the senate s approval of a major weapons reduction treaty with russia. this has been the most productive post-election period in decades on the heels of the most productive two years we ve had in generations. americans appear to agree. 56% of you approve of how mr. obama handled a lame duck session, that according to a cnn national poll out a few days ago. that s a lot higher than those who give a thumbs-up to how democrats and republicans did in congress during the lame duck. here s the flipside. how is the president doing overall? his approval rating is 38% at the end of their second year in
steroids. he has not done less than he should. but mr. president, we need you to get angry. the only figurative rival the president news coverage less than favorable has been the former governor of alaska. i mean, sarah palin, whatever you think of her, has become the absolute glittering object for the media. it s sort of like the way the press cover britney spears. some of palin s preferred candidates helped produce last month s shellacking of obama and the democrats and the headlines turned harsh over the tax-cut compromise, especially on the left. that s why the media kind of got critical this week because they re finally starting to see the pattern that a lot of folks on the left have seen, saying this guy doesn t get involved till the end. what does he fight for? even that sort of criticism just two weeks ago before obama s victory on don t ask, don t tell, that now seems dated. joining us now to turn the critical ends on the media s performance last year, lauren ash
session. do you expect the pace to return in terms of the budget and also cutting spending? how bipartisan will it be? it s interesting. a lot of people said after the mid-term election that the president was weaken and he wasn t going to be able to get anything done. so then he turned around and moved to the middle on the tax cut compromise. but then able to satisfy the base by passing don t ask, don t tell and do other important business for the country. the 9/11 firefighters and first responders, the health bill was very important. and a number of other very important achievements that left the american people thinking well, if this is what president obama looks like when he s down, what will he accomplish next year when he had more time to recover from the midterms? unformerly, despite the bipartis bipartisanship we have seen, republicans are telling the american people they will use a political and partisan
point. that s thanks to the compromise. the second argument is the one you don t have to make because people feel their lives improving because of hiring really does change. that is what the obama advisers say about the tax cut compromise. a conservative in the washington post credits it as stimulus two, not really about tax cuts. if it stimulates the economy people will feel it. what issue should he lose in 2011 that might hurt him in 2012, do you think? it is interesting when you say lose. i think what obama has had a hard time learning is how to fail successfully. the republicans know how to do that. they will set up conflicts for when there s a failure. for example, the bill doesn t pass, they go back to their folks and base since they see we are slowing down government. that s a good thing. these he s had more trouble with
take a look at the battles ahead for the next congress, the 112th. who better to do that than chris wallace, the anchor of fox news sunday . chris, i want to take a look at some of the big accomplishments of this lame-duck session. we ll put them on the screen for our viewers. there they are. got a tax cut compromise. that was the first thing and maybe the biggest. money for 9/11 first-responders. the start treaty was ratified out of the senate. the child nutrition bill was passed. there are these four, don t ask, don t tell was passed repeal thereof. the continuing resolution to keep the government funded. the defense authorization act to pay for the wars underway and other activities of the defense department and 19 out of 38 stalled judicial confirmations. actually made it out of the senate. pretty amazing for a lame-duck session, isn t it? yeah, very, very unusual but i want to point to one of telephone. you say you want to looking forward what will happen.