Ron Brownstein Quotations

Nothing he has done throughout his presidency has drawn more fire from conservatives,

I think the overwhelming likelihood is that in the next Congress, you'll see even smaller majorities than we have now. And we weren't really able to get anything done in the last few years,

So he's got an environment in which you don't really have a bonfire burning, a grassroots demand for tax cuts, ... He's going to have to go out and make that case because otherwise Democrats are going to be able to go out and say, 'Look, this will endanger programs that you care about.'

Here is a case where on this core issue where he is instead polarizing again and widening,

You have two things going on right now. You have doubts about the course that President Bush has set in Iraq, and you have what seems to be even larger doubts about whether John Kerry can do better.

One of the clearest tests of leadership for a president is to, on occasion, go against his party. No one wants to do it. So I think the test for the president will be if he wants this bill and he can't work out a deal... will he ask them for an up or down vote on it?