Honeymoon Watch

Patrick O'Connor and Jonathan Martin write for Politico: “Beneath the polite give and take between the new president and the newly disempowered Republican caucus, there was a sense that Obama’s honeymoon had already begun to ebb. For the first time, it seems, congressional Republicans, shut out of power and seemingly cowed by the harsh verdict of voters and wild popularity of the new president, are finding their voice, rallying in large numbers against the centerpiece of Obama’s agenda."

Chuck Raasch writes for the Gannett News Service that “the Republicans' stiff, early opposition is belying predictions that they would initially defer to Obama and may be foreshadowing a shorter-than-expected honeymoon for the new president."

Howard Fineman writes for MSNBC: “Even though the country is behind Obama as he starts — he has the highest approval ratings on record — the sense Inside the Beltway is rather fizz-less. There are a number of reasons. Obama essentially started governing the economy weeks ago, so his ‘honeymoon’ was over — at least among the political and chattering classes here in Washington — before he was even inaugurated.”