(Updated) Booman: "Thoughts on the Political Landscape"

UPDATE: White House denies giving in on Bush tax cuts" (Greg Sargent).

Booman:

The president will now make his decision on what fork to take in the road. I do not expect him to take Clinton's path. His victories will be much smaller, and idealists' patience will be challenged as never before. They will write 'recommended diaries' about how the president is, and always has been, a Blue Dog. They'll fulminate against him and stomp. But, I bet he just follows that logic tree. He won't decide that deregulation is the best way to triangulate. He'll take what he can get and tell us why morally we need to do more. But, this is not the safer road. He'll get no credit for it. Yet, maybe doing the best he can and appealing to our better angels in a time of hatred and fear will earn him the respect he deserves in the history books, even if it means his reelection is far from assured. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Some "landscaping" to consider:

"White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts" (Howard Fineman/Sam Stein).
"$65 Million Spent on Election Ads Targeting Nancy Pelosi."

And here's a thought from Kathleen Reardon:

All the talk about Democrats and Republicans reaching across the aisle to compromise is really quite meaningless until we know what subjects are involved as well as how much of which valuable items or principles are being sacrificed.