The Hill News

History will judge President Clinton more favorably than President Obama, a senior Republican senator charged Wednesday evening.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a 34-year veteran of the Senate, suggested that Clinton, during his two terms in office, had a better presidency than Obama has had so far.

"We've won battles through great presidential leadership," Hatch said in reference to congressional fights over spending during an appearance on Bloomberg News. "Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and even President Clinton on occasion, who, I think, will go down in history as a better president than this one."

The praise for Obama's nearest Democratic predecessor in the Oval Office might seem odd at first glance, coming from a Republican. But Clinton, during his eight years in office, faced circumstances that Obama may end u! p retreading, as a result of this fall's midterm elections.

Clinton had to wrestle with GOP majorities in the House and Senate after the wave election in 1994, which swept Republicans into power. Many observers attribute the balanced budgets achieved by Clinton and the Republican Congress to the divided government produced as a result of those elections.

Obama faces circumstances that could put him in a similar political situation when the new Congress is sworn in next January. Projection services say the GOPs within striking distance of picking up the 39 seats they need to win back the House, though winning the 10 Senate seats necessary to win back that chamber could prove more difficult.

The Utah Republican's comments are especially interesting given the 2008 primary battle between Obama and now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a prolonged and bitter primary battle pitting the former president and first lady against Obama, then an Ill! inois senator.

Obama and Bill Clinton have occasio! nally te sted their political influence against each other since then, such as during the Colorado Democratic primary for Senate. Obama and Clinton endorsed different candidates, though Obama's pick, Sen. Michael Bennet, prevailed.

Hatch lamented that those past Republican majorities, though, were never truly fiscally conservative, due to some of the centrist Republicans who broke with their party to support Democrats on spending.

"I've been in the Senate, now, 34 years. We've never had a fiscal conservative majority in the Senate, because we've always had enough moderate to liberal Republicans who will go with the all-liberal Democrats on spending," he said.