How did the shift in the majority of Congress change the relationship between President Obama and the Congress?
2. What strategies did the House Republicans employ to create leverage to get President Obama to agree to their policy positions?
3. What divisions within the Republican conference hampered the ability of Speaker John Boehner to negotiate with Barack Obama and his administration?
4. What evidence is presented in the documentary that personal relationships shaped the high-level negotiations between congressional Republicans and the Obama Administration?
5. What evidence is presented in the documentary that the shape of negotiations were determined by structural factors (e.g the Constitutional separation of powers, partisan divisions, etc)?
6. What lessons do you take from this look at the politics of a decade ago that might apply to the politics of a divided government that we might see in 2023 presuming Republicans win a majority in the House and/or Senate?
