As I type this, Freshman Congressmen are moving into their new digs on Capitol Hill and in just a few short weeks President Obama will be inaugurated. So, with the beginning of the political New Year here are ten things to watch:
- How long will Obama’s job approval stay high if the economy continues to struggle?
- Will any non-economic agenda items make it into the first 100 days?
- Will Republicans in the House offer a strong contrast to the Obama agenda?
- Will Senate Republicans be able to sustain a filibuster?
- Will Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership play well together?
- Will Bill Richardson be the one nominee Obama loses, or will the new sensitivity to potential scandal derail others?
- (When) will the Clinton/Obama relationship blow up and will it be Bill or Hillary who causes it?
- Who will begin to emerge as Republican candidates for 2012 that we aren’t thinking about yet?
- How long will it take the D.C. metro area to recover from inauguration week?
- How long will it take to actually know the identities of all 100 Senators?
