What I'm wondering is, does he consider the completion -- and of course the Senate Democrats are one of the main reasons health care didn't get done, because they didn't finishit in a year -- but does the President consider the completion of the health care legislation to be a measurement of whether Democrats can lead or not?
And one of the criticisms that's been raised is maybe he didn't crack the whip early enough or didn't really kind of heave it over the finish line himself earlier.
"Though we didn't make it to the finish line tonight, the values we fought for and the communities we seek to improve will continue to light a fire in us, " he said.
Ms. BOEGERS: While we didn't make it all the way to the finish line that we have an opportunity to celebrate, it's almost like the silver medal at an Olympic - and if we're denied that and it's just a charade and a pretence, the Obama campaign is going to be in trouble because people are going to leave here angry.