Frankly, the reason Matthews feels the weight of “a very long presidency” is because there hasn’t been a whole lot to be cheery about. The push for more gun control earlier this year (more specifically, expanding background checks) failed miserably, as did “comprehensive” immigration reform when the Senate-passed bill essentially died in the House of Representatives. These were two initiatives the White House hoped to tackle over the last 12 months. They came up short. At the same time, how many millions of Americans have left the workforce because they can’t find jobs, or lost their health insurance and/or doctors under Obamacare -- problems that have only intensified over the last year? Do I even need to mention the IRS or NSA scandals? Iran, meanwhile, is coming closer and closer to possessing nuclear weapons -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the recent interim agreement with Iran “a historic mistake” -- and the butchery in Syria continues to rage. Matthews called this a “terrible year for the president.”
Perhaps even the president himself would agree.