So, protest from "his base" can strengthen Obama's hand, eh?

[bigtree]

60. so how/where does all of this political trouble for Obama manifest itself?

. . . he's not running for anything.

I agree that he's spitting in the wind every time he makes attempts to reach out to republicans by offering them part of their cynical agenda. I'm not sure that the end effect is much different, though. Republicans have made their careers dependent on being obstructionists to, not only Democrats, but to the progressive policies that are so popular among majorities out here. That's not going to change until they're made politically accountable for that at the voting booth.

Yet, I think it's a mistake to assume that the president actually expects 'compromises' like Chained cpi to actually see the light of day. It may not have occurred to folks that this budget proposal that's sparking all of this reflection on the President- which is doa in the Senate and is tied to items that everyone knows republicans will never accept - is unlikely to be a sincere effort from the WH; rather, another political attempt to show that he's still determined to deliver the bipartisanship he has said is the panacea to our democracy.

What I think he's up against, is a necessary division of interests between parties which was supposed to be resolved by the last election. At some point, he has to just throw down and refuse to budge; instead of throwing these ignored entreaties to republicans which threaten to politically undermine everything he campaigns for.

We need more firmness going into the midterms - much like he practiced on Romney in the general.