Barack Obama

Though he might not be able to operate as far leftward as many of us would like, he knows that many of us really appreciate what he has been able to accomplish. It's actually part of our job to rant about policy we don't agree with (not against him personally) so he can shrug his shoulders at the R's when tactically appropriate and say, "See, nobody can budge 'em, what you're demanding is DOA!"

When he made his last budget proposal, including cuts they've been wanting to effect in a subterranean manner so as to trick the voters, President Obama said more than once, "That's not MY budget!" It was an open challenge to the godforsaken GOP to put up or shut up. Broken-glass GOP faithful will either miss that or deny it, but President Obama was calling the R's bluff, that's all. Like most of his longterm strategies, we'll have to bide our time to see whether it worked. But we should know for sure in 2014, and I'm willing to bet your house that the answer will be affirmative.