Voices: A week of major triumphs for Obama

WASHINGTON — Senior White House aides bristle at the word "legacy," which to them sounds a little too much like "lame duck."

But in the span of a few hours Thursday, President Obama managed to both cement the cornerstone of his legacy and prove that, as political waterfowl go, he still has some life in his presidency.

A week or two ago, newspapers spilled shipping containers full of ink on the demise of Obama's trade package in Congress. After all, he couldn't even carry one of his closest allies, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. How could he untangle the "legislative snafu" to get the trade bills done?

"I'm not going to hypothesize about not getting it done," Obama said. "I intend to get it done."

Then there were the questions about the contingency plans for Thursday's big decision on Obamacare. What happens if the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies for federal health insurance changes? Doesn't Obama have a plan B?

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"I'm not going to go into a long speculation anticipating disaster," Obama said.

Thursday, it became clear he had gotten trade done and averted disaster on health care. Ninety minutes after the Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare, Obama walked into the Rose Garden and declared the Affordable Care Act "is here to stay.

An hour after that, the House passed the last pieces of Obama's trade package, allowing him to sign into law bills that give him "fast-track" negotiating authority while providing assistance to workers who might be put out of a job by any trade agreement he signs.

Each big victory came thanks to unlikely allies: House and Senate Republicans on trade and Chief Justice John Roberts — whose nomination as chief justice Obama voted against in the Senate — on health care.

"These are obviously two quite different policy issues, but they illustrate some important things about this president and this presidency," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Among them: "They illustrate the president's willingness to work with whomever will work with him," he said.

On health care, Obama didn't seek validation from Roberts, whose 6-3 majority opinion held that health insurance subsidies are legal even in states without state-run insurance exchanges. Instead, Obama said, the law's most important affirmation comes from the 16 million more people who have health insurance.

"This is not an abstract thing anymore," he said. "This is not a set of political talking points. This is reality."

As in other debates Obama thinks are settled — such as climate change — Republicans have other ideas.

"The problem with Obamacare is still fundamentally the same. The law is broken," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. Every major candidate for the GOP nomination for president is opposed to it.

But it's becoming increasingly difficult to push the "undo" button on Obamacare, even if Republicans sweep in 2016. That's something Obama has counted on all along. "What we're not going to do is unravel what has now been woven into the fabric of America," Obama said Thursday.

Still, there would be no champagne corks popping at the White House on either issue, Earnest said. For one thing, Obama leaves Friday for Charleston, S.C., to deliver a eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was murdered along with eight others last week in what appears to be a racially motivated attack on his church. That speech will probably highlight another Obama priority long written off as unattainable: gun control.

Though Obama wouldn't spike the football, he did allow himself a brief moment to reflect on his accomplishments.

"So this was a good day for America," Obama said. "Let's get back to work."

Korte is a White House reporter for USA TODAY.