"A year ago President Barack Obama jammed a prediction into his stump speech that evoked his 2008 hope-and-change message — a vow that a victory in 2012 would break the partisan “fever” in Washington.
But behind closed doors, people close to the president tell Politico, Obama never quite bought his own rhetoric and was quietly planning for precisely the opposite scenario, perpetual gridlock, during West Wing strategy sessions in the weeks before and after beating Mitt Romney," writes Glenn Thrush.
"That “fever” line was always bit of an eye-roller to the campaign’s senior aides, even as they dutifully recited it on the cable shows. But it was a necessary political fairy tale. Obama, a candidate who has always fed off the emotion of his supporters, needed a hopeful hook to motivate his less-than-fired-up troops and, at times, himself. In the words of one aide, “Four more years of the same old s—t” wasn’t exactly going to cut it as a go-to aspirational message..." Read it all [Thanks: BJS]