President Obama's Empty Veto Threat of Spending Bill Will Haunt Him (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama decided to back away from his veto option over the spending bill even though it included wording moving the Keystone pipeline forward, according to Fox News. As a political consultant, I am discouraged by the fact the president backed down on his previous veto statements. He should have never made them in the first place.

The president should never threaten using his veto power unless he fully intends to use it. It is the strongest card he can use against Congress and should never be used lightly. The threat alone is enough to make some congressional leader freeze up in terror due to the extra hours of negotiation they might face under a veto threat.

Congress never wants the chance of having to deal with a veto threat. How would you feel if you knew you might put hours of work into a project only to have your boss toss it out? The veto threat is used to send a message of complete opposition to a certain move. President Obama should know what presidents have known in the past. He should know an empty veto threat turns both sides of Congress against you faster than the veto would have in the first place.

By passing on his threatened veto option, President Obama sends certain messages to Congress he does not want to send. The Democrats get a message that their leader gives empty threats. The Republicans get the impressing of a president who will back down from his threats when pushed up against the wall. Both of these can hurt his chances of leading in the future whenever he gives another veto threat.

There is a year until the election. President Obama does not want to go into the homestretch appearing as a hollow president. He should know the opposition will use any chance it can to make him appear weak. Empty veto threats will be brought up in the future. He can be made to look like a president who cannot stand behind his own words. Not only can this make him look like a poor leader at home, it can also make his foreign policy appear to be full of holes as well.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111217/pl_ac/10702397_president_obamas_empty_veto_threat_of_spending_bill_will_haunt_him

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