I write today about the conservative trend in public opinion that Obama is creating. This is a reminder that when the tectonic plates of American politics shift, they shift. If Obama is perceived to have over-reached and to have failed in 2010 or 2012, it won’t matter much who is saying what on cable TV, Republicans will benefit. Also, over-interpreting a mandate appears to be endemic to human nature. Clinton did it in 1992, Republicans in 1994, Bush in 2004, and Obama now. The best recent counter-example I can think of is — per Steve Hayward’s marvelous The Age of Reagan – President Reagan. He realized he’d been elected to fix the economy and set about trying to fix the economy and subordinated other ideological goals to that imperative.