Bow Out Now, Obama

"The vultures are starting to circle" a president who can't solve the economy, can't excite his base, and "can't even sneak a cigarette," Steve Chapman writes in the Chicago Tribune. "But there is good news" for President Obama, Chapman insists: "I checked the Constitution, and he is under no compulsion to run for re-election." Why bow out now, you ask? According to Chapman, the real question is why seek a second term at all.

If a double-dip recession does happen, he says, voters won't re-elect Obama anyway. And even if they do, "presidential encores are generally a bog of frustration, exhaustion and embarrassment"—which Obama's certainly will be if Republicans keep riding high and take both houses of Congress. It's too bad there isn't a popular, tough-minded politician to take Obama's place... Wait a second, "there is someone at hand who fits this description," Chapman writes. "Hillary Clinton." (For an op-ed on the GOP, find out why Maureen Dowd thinks Rick Perry leads the "How Great Is It to Be Stupid?" party.)