He made Arlen not only a reliabe Dem vote, but also become a strong voice against Republicans on TV. It'll be cool if Sestak wins the primary. I think he is a better shot in the general anyway. Although I think both Sestak and Specter can beat Toomey.

Nancy, Harry, and the president all deserve a bunch of praise and thanks. The whole MSM was against health care reform from the start and it is truly a feat that we got it done. We need to work on getting a media that tries to clear up confusion rather than spread it.

There is no reason for the Blue Doggies not to vote for the bill. This a huge first step for universal coverage in America. We are on our way to becoming more civilized.

So what would you have done differently to keep the millions of volunteers mobilized? I was a volunteer and the realiity is we have jobs, hobbies, and friends. It is hard to mobilize a group of people without a short term goal and a sense of urgency. Maintaining both of those things for four years is a simply impossible. People like my brother donated a crazy amount of time for Obama for a few weeks.

Obama has been hurt by other Democrats who undermine his efforts publicly and as often as he can. This makes people like my brother wonder what the point is. His current lack of interest has nothing to do with the case that Obama is making for government. In fact every time my brother hears or sees Obama he is inspired an reassured. By not giving up on health care (like the MSM would love him to do), Obama is creating the thing most likely to turn us around from Republican ideology.

what do liberals expect? It is not that Obama and the White House have not tried to break through ao get their message out. There is only so much they can do. I have seen a lot of criticism of the WH messaging but very few suggestions for change. President Obama is working against a media that is wired for right wing control. When Obama does craft an effective message there is no follow through by the back up players in Congress. Obama has held two prime time addresses that focus on health care, yet he is accused of not leading. When the president steps up and sets deadlines for the House to pass the Senate bill, immediately Hoyer and others say they are not in a rush. Obama's team is not perfect but I think they are doing a good job overall.

All the Republicans who seem to think otherwise are believing their own hype about what a right wing country this is. Republicans have no platform. They can't hide that in a two year campaign for president.

With David Broder cheering her on, I hope Palin runs in 2012. She is not only incredibly polarizing, women hate her. Palin could not win a general election with such low female support. It is shocking her poll numbers are this low when she has not undergone harsh MSM media critique in over a year.

Exactly. Obama can never win. Not that anybody is surprised by that anymore.

I think this is a good idea. I think the summit is only scheduled for two days. Obama will have the chance to engage the public in the process. Obama will also be able to point out how many Republican amendments are actually in the bill. This event puts pressure on Queen Snowe, since she voted for the Senate bill in committee and all of her objections to the bill were removed. There is absolutely no real goddamn reason she won't vote for the bill, except pure politics.

I think any time Obama can put himself in a room with a camera and Republicans he will win hands down. This plan has potential.

A bunch of revisionist history on Obama's first year. Come on, Obama would have looked silly if he was criticizing Reagan (a dead man) on a daily basis. I know a lot of liberal bloggers think that everything wou d have run perfectly if they were running the show, but this whole comment is melodramatic, unproveable fantasy.

Without knowing all the facts it is unfair to blame Biden for not announcing his decision right away. I'm sure he told the Democratic Party right away and they began recruiting other candidates.

to win street cred with the GOP, but rather, with independent and moderate voters who supported him but have become anxious. These voters are nervous and ill-informed and have certainly bought into the deficit stuff being hawked by Republicans and the MSM. Whether Obama's strategy will work is unknown. But I think he is proposing these minimal cuts or freezes to make people more comfortable with the spending for jobs.

I feel like progressives always accuse Obama of trying to win over GOP leaders when I think he is trying to win over voters or public support. Those are very different things.

which is bound to happen in this economy. People are generally anxious and uncertain about the future. Brown seemed to be running a deceptive campaign where he presented himself as a moderate. It is always easier for an insurgent candidate to have a strong message of change. In fact, Brown seems to have lifted Obama's themes and incorporated them into his campaign. It seems like Coakley ran into the problems that Hillary Clinton did, being too complacent and using the inevitabilty aura to project strength. Combine all that with a special election where turnout is always funky and this is not too surprising.

I gave Coakley some money and hope she will win. This just shows Democrats need to start off in the offensive position for 2010 and not wait to let their opponents define themselves.

I tend to agree. I'll email my friends in MA and tell em to vote, but I find it hard to believed that Coakley will lose. But if this motivates the Dems, all the better. We Dems are only motivated when we are worried about losing.

Kudos to Chris Dodd for doing the right thing.

Liberal dems never seem to demonstrate good negotiating tactics.