McGrath: I'm sure Obama and members of his campaign staff would agree with you. However, campaigning is quite different from governing. Politicians make promises during a campaign that even the candidate knows will not become law. Sometime it does, often it does not. True, a president who wins an election by as large a margin as Obama did, plus gaining large majorities in the House and Senate should assure that the winner gets most of the legislation he wants, but it does not always work out that way. Immediately after the election, Obama had very high personal approval ratings. As he began to govern, approval ratings began to slowly start dropping, but over the past few weeks they have dropped a bit faster. Why? In my opinion it is because the DETAILS of the health care plan Obama promised during the campaign became more understood by the electorate and, so far, the majority of voters don't like what they hear. A large percentage of voters, who before, and during the campaign found great fault with their health care plan and though an overhaul of the system would be desirable. After hearing the details of Obama's plan, they are beginning to believe that their current plan is not so bad after all.
It is possible that Obama and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate might push through winning legislation without Republican help. There is even a legislative procedure that they could use (and might do so) but that's a bit risky. All members of the House of Representatives face re-election in 2010, and some Senators do. They are reluctant to pass a Bill that could cost them their seat in 2010 or 2012.