Robert Reich: "How Tough is Our President?"

As I wrote yesterday, these are friends writing these kind of stories with headlines like the above. They're not simply upset with the president because of a disagreement on policy. They're questioning his character and temperament as a result of those disagreements. And once Democrats start asking questions like whether the president has guts, it's only a matter of time before independents start asking the same question.

I just think it's very dangerous territory for a new president to be in eight months into his presidency. The issue isn't whether the Democratic base, or whatever folks like to call us nowadays, will vote for Democrats in the next election (though I do think a lot of folks won't care to vote in the mid-terms). It's whether the Democratic base will become so disaffected with the character of Democratic politicians, that they'll start talking about those politicians in a way that risks damaging the Democrats' brand (and the individual Democrats' reputation and credibility) with the public at large. That's the danger for Obama, and the Congress, here.