Leave it to the always insightful Michael Barone to put things in perspective.  Case in point is his column today discussing how the Democrats have put themselves squarely in the middle of the mess they are currently in...and his take on the complaints that the reason why they can't get something done (despite their big majorities) is Republican opposition.

There's a reason it's hard to pass unpopular legislation on party-line votes. It's not the Senate rules. It's called democracy.

Exactly.  And, given the latest polls on the issue - and on the coming elections - you could take that one step further and say "public opinion".