[T]his is about meta-politics. If the Democrats, either from the left or the right, walk away from reform, they will get slaughtered in November. They’ll get it from the people who want reform, from the people who never wanted reform and from sensible people all over who just think they can’t get anything done.

I remember being in Afghanistan in September 2008 and asking an Afghan translator what he thought of Obama. “He is a good man — a young man, very strong man,” the guy said. Josh is right: if Obama can get that back, and if the Democratic party can forego the fratricide that progressives love to inflict on each other, and pass legislation that matters to the country, they’ll win, and they’ll deserve to. If not, they won’t, and they won’t.

But I find it interesting that Obama’s foreign policy is the most capable and successful aspect of his presidency right now. The Haiti response; the flight 253 response; Afghanistan.

Anyway, I’ll be covering this hearing on 253 for the Windy, so check that out; slow posting for much of today in the interim.

(Also, about this Oxblood song. I couldn’t find the “strength and power/ without fear” Oxblood song on YouTube, probably because I don’t remember what it’s actually called. Just “Oxblood,” right? So “Working Class Life” it is.)