Time to find 51 new Democrats.

A $7B reduction in the increase? Out of how much? People are getting way too worked up over trivial concessions.

The administration may have been unaware that "bipartisanship" wouldn't work in practice,

Of course it worked. After the GOP's gleeful rejection of his bills, the Party of No label is setting in almost permanently - isn't that worth more than a few extra Repub votes? Most Americans believe Obama is being bipartisan - uhm, that's a good thing whether you think it's a waste of time or not. I applaud him for trying and I hope he continues. When it comes to "must pass" legislation like health care, then he can show them the door.

I've seen several "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" comments on this site and others. Don't advise him to be like Bush when it comes to the way he works with Congress.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

My guess is most groups are holding off on attacking until they see where viable primary challengers are going to emerge. It doesn't make any sense to tear down the Conservadem if the only alternative is a wingnut republican.

Besides, isn't a quiet hit job far better strategy than full out media assault when dealing within the caucus?

My perception on the stimulus bill is that Obama tried to get about 120 per cent of what he wanted and got about 110 per cent. Plus he made the Republican opposition look obstructionist. Just because the American press wants to harp on the part he didn't get doesn't make it the important part of the story.

We are seeing real change. Just what he promised. Legislation is not a case of what goes in comes out unchanged. Sometimes the back and forth even makes it better. Light up my fellow liberals. We are doing OK, so far. And it's really early.

I don't give a rat's rump if everything Obama proposes gets a 50 plus 1 vote and passes anyway. Honestly bipartisanship and getting all your Dem duckies lined up in a row is not the point of anything, it is the actual policies that matter. If the ideas work then Obama will be a success and exact vote counts do not matter. If however you have to dumb down a good idea to the point where it does not work just to get votes then in the end you will still have a deteriorating situation and failure all around.

The Blue Dogs aren't Democrats except in name. They are every bit as bad as the Republicans and maybe worse because the one thing Republicans don't lie about is that they see their job as doing whatever the rich and powerful want. The Blue Dogs are liars from the git go claiming they care about the people and want to fight for the common people. What scum.

Informative article, thanks for writing it. If Democrats have battered wife syndrome, as Robert Parry recently suggested, Obama must have battered president syndrome - - given that CNN has stepped up attacks on him that began when the oath of office. Each day since, 24/7, the network has pecked away at his record to see what grain of truth they can turn into a minus or generate controversy. Today, CNN ran a poll on what grade listeners would give the president for his first 100 days. What were the choices? They could vote for one of three: above average, average, below average. Since those polled could not chose excellent, most opted for above average. That way, CNN could avoid reporting what other polls have shown - - that the public grades him high, rather than above average. This clever methodology is just one of hundreds used every month to "pull down the president to a size we can influence him," according to a quote from The Guardian attributed to one of CNN's top executives and an attitude characterized by Wolf Blitzer. I would encourage readers to examine CNN more closely; since the public believes it is a news source they can trust, which is far from the truth. For some reason CNN is after this president, even though it has cost them dearly in viewer department and with sponsors who have cancelled. So how have they tried to make up for loss of viewers and sponsors? Did they get off Obama's back? Of course not! Instead, CNN is turning to the radical conservative fringe by adding commentators of Rush Limbaugh's stripe. They are trying to contract with Newt Gingrich to do a news show. What a greedy and arrogant news organization. They think the public does not know that any person who constantly criticizes a president places himself or herself above him in stature. The behavior at CNN gives new meaning to the word "hubris." Sometimes I wonder how much CNN bases its behavior on covert racism. “ A white president can get an excellent rating, but not a Black one.” Maybe CNN should change its network letters to KKK or at least advertise itself as “the best propaganda machine on television.” It is fast becoming the right arm of the grotesque creature known as the radical conservative right, which almost sunk the Ship of State amid the rocky shoals of brainless political, economic, social and religious ideology.

well, there has to be a concerted effort by progressives to nominate Dems that don't mimic Repubs.

The nomination process is where they have a chance.
It's going to take a lot of effort at the grassroots level to do that.

by the way, how many Blue Dogs are there?

DUH! The whole reason for the formation of the Blue Dog Dems in the senate is to prevent health care reform from passing the senate by the reconciliation process. No way it won't get filibustered so unless it goes by the reconciliation process it won't happen. The lobbyist's dollars are paying off big time here.

No new energy policy, and no national health cae reform that includes a public option thanks entirely too the Blue dogs. These republican mistresses stand in direct opposition to the dem's agenda and against the will of the majority of Americans. They are called "Blue dogs" because the oxygen to their brains has been cut off by conservative breathing.