Thus far at the Obama White House, it's only progressives who get thrown under the proverbial bus. If Obama is truly to signal a change of course and mean it, one constructive sign would be replacements for Summers and Geithner.

The opposition to Bernanke will only grow. And it would be a severe mistake to read this as senators needing a scapegoat or a sacrificial lamb.

Whether or not Martha Coakley squeaks through in Massachusetts on Tuesday, it should be a wake-up call of the most fundamental kind. Obama needs to stop playing inside games with bankers and insurance lobbyists.

With the State of the Union getting drafted and re-drafted, debates are raging inside the White House: Should Obama be more conciliatory, or more feisty; more progressive or more centrist?

Obama may think he is modeling a higher form of leadership. He isn't. If he wants to be loved by voters, it's time for some toughlove directed at Republicans.