We have serious problems in this country, problems of equality, of quality of life. Of security and liberty, of infrastructure and education. Not every point of view is right and no one idea is necessarily best. All the ideas are flawed and there is nothing to be done about that. The biggest problem, though, is that no one is talking. If we were talking to each other we would all realize that the people opposing health care reform aren’t profit hungry or worried that the government will have them killed. They’re worried about people losing their jobs. And those in favor of health care reform aren’t socialists. They’re worried about the people who’ve already lost their jobs. [...]
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 The fate of the GOP now rests securely in President Obama's hands. With Al Franken finally being certified as the winner in Minnesota’s 2008 senatorial race, we have suddenly arrived at the first test of my theory concerning Nate Silver’s Republican Death Spiral. Franken’s arrival gives the Democrats a 60-seat majority in the Senate. No one should get terribly excited about this, both for the reasons outlined in virtually every major news outlet as well as the fact that 60 shouldn’t be the big number we make it. Virtually all of Obama’s agenda now depends on how well he can hold together his party’s much-expanded coalition. A Tipping PointIn my initial post on this topic, one of the major determinants was how quickly internal bickering began to actually cause a rift in the Democratic Party. With steady, competent leadership, the Democrats may hold their coalition together long enough for the Republicans to bleed out. However, if the bickering becomes damaging very quickly, and voters believe the party to be ineffectual, those who recently left the Republican Party may run back. If the Democratic coalition holds out longer, the Republicans may have hemorrhaged too many voters to recover. If, for instance, the Libertarian Party manages to gain parity with their Republican cousins, then that party, and not the GOP could be the beneficiary of a Democratic split. Continue reading… Anyone who paid attention in high school civics class knows it takes a majority to pass a bill. In the Senate, that means 51. In today’s world, though, the operative number is 60. 60 represents the mythical supermajority, the three-fifths of the Senate needed to break a filibuster, but has become the de facto definition of a majority:
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