Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said that he believes that President Obama will be more liberal with his use of executive power in his second term Thursday evening on MSNBC:
RACHEL MADDOW: Do you think immigration and gun reform, which the president has put forward as his temporal first priorities for this first term, that they can move in the Senate?
SHERROD BROWN: Well, I think immigration can move in the Senate. A number of these, because we have a way sometimes of getting over the 60 votes or speeding up the process, and the House still doesn't move on it, so I think perhaps immigration gets through. I feel good about it getting through the Senate. If it doesn't get through the House, the president is going to use the powers that he has. It's not ever as good as to invoke executive power as it is Congress passing something, but it's going to be pretty hard, and there will be a lot of public pressure on Boehner but I think the president is going to use the bully pulpit the next four years. The Republicans will say he is out campaigning, but I think he is going to be out pushing his agenda and he needs to go over the heads of the Republicans in the Senate and House to do it. So I;m pretty optimistic, I think this will be a pretty activist presidency, more so than it was in the first term.
Full interview: