Small but significant point, but I think Obama's wording on the current fiscal negotiations could be a lot better and and could force the republicans into a more difficult position than they are now.
Just today, Obama said, as he has been saying,
“We’re going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up,” Mr. Obama told Bloomberg Television in his first television interview since his re-election last month, “and we’re not going to be able to get a deal without it.”
It really surprises me for him to continually word it this way. I would much prefer he say "It's time to return the tax rates for the top 2% (to a more reasonable level)" He could add "The highest earners are doing great compared to the rest of the country through this extremely difficult period, and reverting their tax rates to those of the Clinton era is an entirely practical and common sense way to move forward."
Make the media work and explain to us dumb Americans what the historical rates have been and how even a return to the Clinton era rates is still well below the average since WW2 for the top earners.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/...
Republicans have always been successful in getting democrats to use their wording/framing and even with Obama's apparent upperhand in this situiation, it seems like it is happening again and makes me worry where things will go from here.