Why the White House changed course - Ezra Klein

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-the-white-house-changed-course/2011/08/25/gIQAjS8PfK_blog.html

The administration was initially pleased to see press reports detailing their willingness to compromise and surveys showing the American people thought the GOP far more intransigent. In their theory of politics, that meant they were winning. But they soon learned that voters aren’t interested in compromises that don’t lead to results. Obama looked like a nice guy, and that kept him personally popular. But he looked like an ineffectual leader, and that led his job approval to dip below 40 percent in some polls.