"We wonder if they might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest."
That's from the WSJ Editorial this morning, slamming Republicans on the Hill for pretty much giving up the 2012 presidential election before the year has even started. Washington doesn't get any more heated than this. But as far as Obama goes, could the paper be right?
All of this infighting has seemed to move the needle in his favor: two polls out this week show his approval ratings rising to the upper 40s, their highest level since the summer. While Congress' ratings continue to decline.
And the White House is betting on sentiments like what the WSJ wrote is true: they're holding their ground in this fight, and as Politico puts it, it's now just a matter of who blinks first.
What do you think? Will the pressure make Speaker John Boehner cave? Or will 160 million Americans see smaller paychecks after the New Year?