The Republicans may have...

...finally overplayed their hand yesterday by opposing the President's address to schoolchildren:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090909/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_school_daze_analysis

I watched the speech and can't imagine how a reasonable person could object to anything Obama said. Any president could have given that speech. Even most Republicans, it seems, had to concede as much as the day wore on. And any reasonable person would also have to conclude that the President's opponents are really just interested in bringing him down. It reminds me of the Clinton years, when the right wing acted much in the same way. And it may end up having the same effect; the right may lose credibility with independents and the President may be given the benefit of the doubt. During his impeachment, for example, Clinton's popularity soared to a level unmatched even by Reagan; the GOP's declined.

Tonight Obama will be speaking before Congress about health care reform. After all the silliness in August and now this latest non-controversy, the nation may be more willing to give the president a fresh hearing. It's harder to take all of the "socialist" and "Nazi" rhetoric seriously after yesterday's boilerplate speech. Maybe people will return to the reality that Obama was elected president by a majority vote and is working honestly to solve America's problems.