The GOP is a reactionary group of indidviduals while Obama is very calculated in his moves. Keep in mind that Rahm Emanuel wants to sustain and grow the party not repeating the mistakes of the GOP so he is forced to work with the Blue Dogs. With only six months into his presidency, the right wing noise machine are attacking Obama with everything they have. They want Obama to fail and despise the fact that a black President is in office, the Republicans have not come to terms with their denial attacking Obama on his birth certificate and whether he is a legitimate President. Has it worked?
One could argue that Obama's approval rating have dropped significantly since he took office. However, when you take his poll numbers and compare them with some of the popular Presidents of recent history, he's trending about the same...
The GOP is salivating over the fact that Health Care reform is stalled but has not been able to reap any rewards. Even though Obama's approval ratings have slid, the Public appears to despise the GOP at a horrible 36% approval rating and sliding. It was a brilliant move to take on Healthcare early because Obama can recover from any "set back" and go back to the issue later on. He still has several trump cards to play.
What the GOP doesn't get? They have no ideas except to oppose Obama. Obama's ideas may not be popular but that doesn't mean the public is going to revert back to the very old playbook that has destroyed the economy and basically put our country between a rock and a hard place. It is our job to reverberate this point 1000 times to the voters as to keep the job in the hole in which they live.
After relentless attacks from the entire right wing noise machine, Obama's approval rating stands in the high fifties. He (unlike George Bush) is able to take his position to the people and use his skills to win back the ratings he has lost. Obama has been relatively nice over the last six months trying to reach out (as he promised in his campaign) to all sides of the party. The GOP stands to lose much more as Obama becomes irritated with the party of "no" as the Democrats can still dictate legislation before 2010 to gain back any traction they have lost over the last 6 months.
Mr. President it's time to start using the FDR's "big stick" and stop walking lightly. The GOP is never going to side with you. I suspect this is part of the trap you have set for the GOP given the way you dismantled anyone who got in your way during the elections.
We must not fall into the "fast paced", "quick fix" mentality. If we can keep the majorities over the next two election cycles, the Repulicans will not be able to introduce any of their neo-con agenda. If we can hold the Presidency over the next 8 years, we can replace Supreme Court thus changing the country. Keep your eye on the ball and not get caught into the politics of the moment.
We just need to have faith in our President. I'm convinced he still listens to us....