For 2301 as we cover public opinion: Matt Bai notes that after hailing the Bush-Cheney Administration for being principled enough to ignore public opinion when they felt they had to, Republicans now assail Obama for doing the same. What role should public opinion play in governing decisions?
Note that the author points out the importance of the precise nature of the claims Democrats and Republicans have used to frame their accusations that the other party was being unfair, even to the point of using focus groups to make sure that the terminology was effective.
Democrats accused Republicans of "changing the rules in the middle of the game" when they considered changing rules concerning filibuster over judicial nominees. Now Republicans are accusing Democrats of having "rammed [health care reform] down the throats of the American people." in both cases the phrases were repeated over and over by various members of Congress to make sure the point was not missed.
