WASHINGTON — Is there a second-term curse?

Historian Robert Dallek thinks there just might be — and President Obama's current travails could be the latest example.

"After one party loses two elections in a row, there's sort of blood in the water," Dallek said in an interview Wednesday on USA TODAY's weekly newsmaker video series, Capital Download. "They're really eager to strike back and reduce the influence, the control of second-term presidents." What's more, a president's shortcomings have had time to surface after four years in office....