Finally. We've broken them .... lol at least for a little while.
Obama pulls out his boxing gloves in Calif.By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.
What does President Obama's visit to California this week on behalf of embattled Sen. Barbara Boxer have to do with passage of the financial reform bill? Far more than you'd imagine.
That Boxer is in any trouble says much of what you need to know about this year's election. California has become a Democratic bastion, and Boxer has been a liberal institution who never before faced a serious reelection challenge.
Now she is seen as sufficiently vulnerable that Obama will come to the state for another fundraiser for her next month. The threat to Boxer is grim news for Democrats.
Is this sense of the election about to be overtaken? That's where financial reform comes in. If health-care legislation had to fight uphill against a public mood that is skeptical of government's capacities, the financial reform bill that Democrats are pushing has the advantage of flowing with a public view devoutly critical of Wall Street, bankers and all their works.
And for the first time in Obama's presidency, Republicans are uncertain as to whether resolute opposition to a Democratic idea is in their political interest. There are strong indications that the GOP would prefer to avoid an all-out confrontation over re-regulating the financial system, and several Republican senators are saying that they would like to negotiate with Democrats. Suddenly, it's Democrats -- and, in particular, the often conflict-averse Obama -- who are relishing a fight.
This raises what might be the essential question for November: Can Democrats finally put the Republicans on the defensive?
Obama is betting that they can.
more....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042104449.html "betting that THEY CAN" - imagine it. ;)