Obama had higher approval ratings working on the stimulus than he does after extending the Bush tax cuts.
That was during his honeymoon...
True, but unless the President and Congress contrast enough, there will be no Democratic enthusiasm in 2012. You can only enrage your base so much. Why do you think Bush saved immigration reform for his second term? Obama needs to stay positive and if the Republicans want to try to block everything, they can face the voters' wrath in 2012. It would be like 1996 all over again, especially with the weak Republican field. Not that I expect Obama to show that he has a spine on anything, of course. If he had done a better job defending his proposals, he would have prevented a lot of unnecessary losses last November. Letting Pelosi and Reid define the Democratic party was a huge and unforgivable mistake.
