Obama’s noble and necessary experiment with bipartisanship has failed. Republicans — hard-pressed by the Tea Party movement — are dedicated to little more than his destruction.
Obama and the Democrats may have stopped the economic decline, but they have failed to reverse it. People fear for their jobs, and for their families.
This worry is tangible and visceral. Independents want jobs more than health-care reform; they want bank loans for their small businesses, mortgages for their houses, and colleges they can afford for their kids. It is all about economics.
The paradox is that, at the moment, the federal government must intervene to bring these conditions about. But neither Democrats nor Republicans have given independent voters sufficient reason to trust Washington.
Obama’s challenge is to find a way to cut through the special interests that hold the Democrats hostage. The Republicans are a lost cause. Lose independents and he loses the nation.
Related:
How Brown won, Does Scott Brown’s victory mean doom for RI Democrats?, Friends in high places, More 
- How Brown won
As the Massachusetts US Senate election unfolded yesterday, all that the pols and pundits wanted to talk about was how Martha Coakley managed to lose the race. And there is plenty there to dissect. But there is another part of the story, and that is how Scott Brown managed to win it.
- Does Scott Brown’s victory mean doom for RI Democrats?
Republican Scott Brown's stunning victory this week in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts has created something approaching panic in the ranks of Congressional Democrats.
- Friends in high places
Speakers rarely get as warm a welcome as President Barack Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett received last Thursday at Harvard Kennedy School.
- The power of money
While a cadre of conservative Democrats continues to conspire with Washington's mendacious Republican minority to block national health-care reform, the nation's largest health-benefits company — amusingly called WellPoint — is going about its business of screwing policyholders and scoring record profits in the process.
- Brown, baby, Brown
Senator Scott Brown is getting a lot of praise from the left and abuse from the right for crossing party lines to help pass a jobs bill earlier this week.
- Interview: Daniel Ellsberg
"By ordinary standards of presidents, Obama is a decent man. But those standards aren't good enough."
- Improv Asylum presents Scott Brown: The Musical
Should US Senator Scott Brown ever find any downtime between crucial votes on the future of this nation and hand-modeling gigs, he may want to flex his melodrama muscles.
- New and improved Romney
Scott Brown's unexpected victory in last month's special US Senate election captured the attention of the country — and particularly of core Republican voters, who huddled eagerly before their TV screens to watch their hero du jour give his acceptance speech. But even in the midst of his moment in the sun, Brown made sure to thank the other handsome, well-coifed man on the stage, Mitt Romney.
- Romney's new character: Macho man
Few things are more predictable than a GOP presidential candidate posturing as a he-man protector of America, and depicting his Democratic counterpart as an effete, appeasing girlie-man on the dangerous world stage.
- Might as well jump
Last Thursday, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — the last of his legendary clan in Congress — announced that he will not run for re-election.
- Obama's year two to-do's
This week marks the one-year anniversary of Barack Obama's inauguration. Can you believe it?
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