A LOT

"Putting adults who believe in government back into the federal government means big change." Dean Barker, Blue Hampshire

"I think that is Obama's main intention for his first term -- to make government work." Tracy Viselli, Reno And Its Discontents

"Within reason. You really can't change 4,000 years of civilization -- politics is politics, it's a sometimes nasty business, and it's worked the same way for millennia." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

A LITTLE

"Obama will be spending a good deal of his first half-term in crisis management and dealing with the meltdowns left behind by Bush; his Cabinet choices reflect this. There won't be much time or energy for the 'change' agenda until after he pulls the country out of the ditch, and perhaps not until a second term should it occur." Steve Soto, The Left Coaster

"With so many in his Cabinet coming from the Clinton White House, it doesn't seem as progressive as his election campaign." Maegan la Mala, VivirLatino

"Centrism is the last thing we need in Washington right now. And during his first year, this will be the hard lesson Obama has to learn. I hope he does." Sean-Paul Kelley, The Agonist

"Bush was a big change away from the mainstream. I get the feeling Obama will need to stabilize the system and get the operations of government back on course before he gets too innovative." Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny!

"I think the biggest change will be in the way the Democratic Party will work. Strong leadership will make a huge difference." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

OTHER

"It's more about whether Obama can bring a new set of ideas to Washington. The 'change,' if it comes, will be a result of what voters did, sending a Democratic Congress to bolster a Democratic president. If gridlock is ended, the voters did it, with the Democrats under Obama's lead manifesting their intentions." Taylor Marsh

A LITTLE

"Every president makes their mark, but the bureaucracy remains. Shoot, even the great government liberator, Reagan, promised to shrink government, and look at what we got." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"Presidents and their teams have personalities, which matter. Institutions matter more. The biggest change, then, will be alignment between the White House and Congress on a partisan basis." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"Institutional parameters are what they are, and all presidents have to function within them. The only thing that Obama can do is change the way the White House works, at least vis-a-vis the Bush administration, meaning being more respectful of the Constitution and the rule of law. He can also be more thoughtful and deliberative and less prone to cronyism. So far, so good, but we shall see." Steven Taylor, PoliBlog

"'Washington' is a huge machine -- tougher to turn than an aircraft carrier -- but his changes will show in the radicalism (or lack thereof) in his appointments while he pretends to steer a middle course." Martin Solomon, Solomonia

"Washington is fairly dysfunctional, and I see very little progress in the offing -- I hope I'm wrong." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

NOT AT ALL

"He doesn't have to. No doubt he'll claim that he's changed things. But lobbyists will still have their say." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

"Obama campaigned on change, but after having lined his administration with D.C. insiders and Clinton retreads, change isn't anything we can expect. And his 'change' persona was just a role he was playing on the campaign stage. Obama's a politics-as-usual leader." Rob Port, Say Anything

"He'll change the product that emerges from Washington (that is, there'll be different laws), but he will not change the way Washington is driven by money, power, special interests and the occasional dollop of out-and-out corruption." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"Politicians might have different agendas, but the methods of achieving their goals are always the same: crooked politics and dirty games." Susan Duclos, Wake Up America

"D.C., only more so." Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

DECREASE

"Maybe I'm just optimistic, but Obama's appointments have shown the way. It just might decrease." Taylor Marsh

"I'm inclined to think the poor economy will pressure the Republican minority to compromise more with Obama's legislative agenda. On the other hand, I'm not sure the GOP will yet figure out how to reform itself in the next cycle, so it's altogether possible that they will try the same kind of obstructionist tactics they employed in the 110th session." Dean Barker, Blue Hampshire

"He'll effectively argue against GOP obstructionism, and that will tamp down the partisanship to a degree." Steve Soto, The Left Coaster

"It's a time of national catastrophe and the Republicans have a choice: go along or make themselves even more irrelevant than they already have." Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny!

INCREASE

"While President Obama will seek out better relations with Republicans, they have decided their best course lies in obstructing progress. As we have seen in statehouses across the country, when the Republicans are backed into a corner, they get more aggressive. As long as they have big deficits in both houses, they will find it tough to do anything but obstruct. However, obstruction alone can be a powerful tool when your eyes are set upon 2010." Brian Leubitz, Calitics

"Republicans will return to the slash-and-burn form they used on the Clinton administration. It's what they do." Lee Papa, The Rude Pundit

"The Republicans will be as difficult and cantankerous as ever. They are a natural insurgent party. And without the filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, they'll be a thorn in Obama's side and will prevent any kind of meaningful progress." Sean-Paul Kelley, The Agonist

STAY ABOUT THE SAME

"Conservative Republicans are, for the most part, in denial about why their party lost the last two elections. I think they will continue to play the same partisan games for at least another couple of years." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"Obama will play nice, and the Republicans will play Republican." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

DECREASE

"What division? There is only one party." Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

INCREASE

"I think the Bush years will be viewed in rosy retrospect as a time of peace and harmony." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

STAY ABOUT THE SAME

"There is no reason to believe that we are in a post-partisan era. Indeed, unified government will allow the opposition to go into full critique mode." Steven Taylor, PoliBlog

"I have little doubt that the MSM will report that partisan differences have been reduced from the terrible years of the Bush administration, but that will be because they agree with the partisan in charge." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

"Uh, Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton in Obama's administration? Short of keeping Gates, what outreach to the right has Obama tried? Nope... not seeing much 'change' in D.C." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"It couldn't get much more partisan, could it? But the economic crisis will give the Republican minority reason to fight back." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"Partisanship is partisanship. It never really changes. I think it ramped up a bit with lefty frustration over the close 2000 election, and now it's going to be equally high on the right as they get some back after eight years of Bush derangement." Rob Port, Say Anything

"Not much 'hope' for 'change.' President Obama is going to have a lot of people with their hands out to satisfy." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

"More in the blogosphere than from legislators." Tracy Viselli, Reno And Its Discontents

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS

"I expects the purists of both parties will be thorns in Obama's side, since he is more a pragmatist than an ideologue. However, I think the conservative Republicans are likely to try to block everything Obama does just because he's the one doing it." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"Only six far-right extremists chose to try filibustering the unemployment extension act. Obama will have it worse -- but not disastrously so. He'll work with them and national unity will be a theme. He's not very partisan. The liberal Democrats SHOULD be the opposition, but there aren't enough of them to be effective. Obama will be firmly in charge." Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny!

"Liberal Democrats? A thorn in anyone's side? ROTFL" John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

"I'd bet on conservative Democrats, myself..." Robert Farley, Lawyers, Guns And Money

OTHER

"Events will be the 'bigger thorn.'" Taylor Marsh

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

"Obama's already busy disappointing his followers. They'll get ugly." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"They are already complaining and threatening to wage 'war' on Obama if he doesn't appoint who they want, before he even takes office. It will get worse." Susan Duclos, Wake Up America

"I will go with liberal Democrats, only insofar as they will be making specific demands on Obama that he will likely be unable to keep. The Republicans will, rather than directly attack the president, cause their problems for the majority within the Congress." Steven Taylor, PoliBlog

"Simply because they will insist on trying to pull Obama left too quickly." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

"Kos!" Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

"Payback's a bitch." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS

"I can imagine that President Obama will have his differences with Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi, but those will mostly be tactical or perhaps issues of priorities. Liberal Democrats will be represented in the White House, and they know that." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

"The liberal Democrats have got to be loving the most liberal president-elect in our lifetimes. But I think the real headache for Obama may be moderate Democrats from red states (think North Dakota), who are going to have a tough time toeing Obama's liberal line and staying in the good graces of their conservative constituents." Rob Port, Say Anything

ONLY AS MUCH AS NECESSARY

"In a perfect world, I'd say 'go for significant Republican support.' However, results of the last two elections have left Congress with mostly right-wing, radical Republicans in Congress rather than moderate ones, and I don't think they can be worked with. Congress needs to get done what Congress needs to get done, with 'em or without 'em." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"Odds are, the more Republicans support a bill, the worse it will be. Make sure to swing as few as possible." Chris Bowers, Open Left

"The second option, 'compromise enough to win significant Republican support,' is compromise for the sake of compromise, and you end up losing the very agenda that brought you to office." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

"Actually, I think Obama shouldn't compromise at all. He should just ram through his agenda." Sean-Paul Kelley, The Agonist

ENOUGH TO WIN SIGNIFICANT REPUBLICAN SUPPORT

"This one is easy. Obama is not ideological, so the broadest consensus is likely a higher priority." Taylor Marsh

ONLY AS MUCH AS NECESSARY

"While I'd love to see him build an overwhelming consensus, there's little political upside to doing so. It'll just irritate the base while earning him few points with the other side." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"Why make the effort for the second option if he need do only the first?" Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"President Obama won't need Republicans. No reason to damage his standing with allies in order to get his agenda through." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

"If Obama compromises with Republicans too much, the liberal base that got him elected is going to lose faith, much as Republicans lost faith in Bush." Rob Port, Say Anything

ENOUGH TO WIN SIGNIFICANT REPUBLICAN SUPPORT

"But he won't, of course." Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

"Bring in the Republicans and they share the blame for the problems. 'It was a bipartisan effort' is an all-purpose excuse." Martin Solomon, Solomonia

"Well, he wanted 'change' and to work with Republicans -- if he's not naming them to the Cabinet, how else does he intend to create a new tone?" J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"I frankly doubt this will happen, but Obama's best chance to have a successful presidency is to govern from the center. I don't think much of his party will be happy with that." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

ACCENTUATE DIFFERENCES

"But who and what is the GOP? Until they figure that out, the accentuated differences will be empty slogans." Dean Barker, Blue Hampshire

"Republicans must begin to figure out who they are in the modern era. Offering a contrast is the best road forward, defining as they go." Taylor Marsh

DOWNPLAY DIFFERENCES

"It depends on what districts or states they represent, of course." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"But from the looks of things already, they are focusing on accentuating their differences. The nation wants to see both sides come together to solve problems like the economy. If the Republicans play with obstruction too much, all but the most loyal Republicans will chalk it up to politics as usual." Tracy Viselli, Reno And Its Discontents

OTHER

"Both. The folks running the GOP will try to demonize Obama, just as they did Bill Clinton, and the very few moderate Republicans who are left will hug him like there's no tomorrow." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

"Mainstream conservatives will try to downplay the differences. Far-right extremists like Jim DeMint will accentuate the differences." Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny!

ACCENTUATE DIFFERENCES

"But with Congress, not Obama." Soren Dayton, The Next Right

"I'm not particularly wedded to the GOP, but I see no future for them in abandoning their principles to become Democrat Lite. Of course, that assumes they even remember what those principles are at this point." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

"Republicans can't allow themselves to be rolled anymore. They have to articulate what the conservative message is: accountability, reform, personal responsibility." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"The best thing Republicans can do in the coming Congress is go into full-on obstruction mode. They don't need an agenda. Their only agenda should be 'Democrats delenda est.'" Rob Port, Say Anything

"There's another election in two years, and there will be a lot of Americans who will be very disappointed in Obama. True believers will be horrified at his failure to follow through on his most extreme promises; and ordinary Americans will be horrified by the effects of his follow-through on his less extreme promises." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"It'll depend almost entirely on whether things are going well. But I'm betting that they won't, given the momentum of the economic crisis." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"They have to, unless they are Marxists." Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

DOWNPLAY DIFFERENCES

"What if the economy improves in two to three years time despite the Obama administration's efforts? No one will know if it's the policies that helped the economy or the 'strong fundamentals.' Politically, it's too risky to emphasize differences -- especially on domestic issues." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

SPREAD TOO THIN

"He has no choice. Bush and the Republicans made so much of a mess, the presidency is in essence a poisoned chalice." Sean-Paul Kelley, The Agonist

"I don't think the Obama administration is going to be timid and waste time or opportunity. I also don't think they're going to overstretch." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

SPREAD TOO THIN

"No incoming president has ever tackled too few issues." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"Events will dictate this in a way most people don't foresee. Look for national security to be a factor." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

WASTING OPPORTUNITY

"President Obama will have positive press and an economy likely near bottom. He will have an extended honeymoon; he need not be cautious." David Gerstman, Soccer Dad

"Obama is a promiser, not a doer. In any event, he's too wily to carry out constitutional changes before he's rejiggered the Supreme Court." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"Given how often Obama has been willing to back down when confronted by challenges, my guess is his biggest problem will be failure to advance an agenda." Rob Port, Say Anything

"The fewer, the better." Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

A GREAT DEAL

"This is the job of Congress, not the president, and what we need is to re-invigorate the role of Congress, not some outside commission that does nothing." Taylor Marsh

"I'm not confident that the Obama administration, in an effort to focus on the immediate, multiple crises before the country, will adequately look into executive branch abuses of the Bush administration. Instead, I feel that President Obama will reform the abuses by the example of a more honest, open government during his own term. And so the dangerous precedent of what Bush and Cheney have done will stand unchecked, opening the door for a less scrupulous president in the future." Dean Barker, Blue Hampshire

"They should. But they won't." Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny!

A MODERATE AMOUNT

"More important is ferreting out the political appointments and making the departments more nonpartisan and professional, from FEMA to CDC." Greg Dworkin, Daily Kos

"We have some hair-on-fire priorities that must be addressed first. However, I want investigations to be ongoing, even if they take a while. The nation needs to know the truth." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"They need to do this to keep the congressional GOP in defense mode." Steve Soto, The Left Coaster

"Remedying the most damaging policy mistakes rather than investigating should be the course of action." Matt L. Barron, Rural Votes

ONLY A LITTLE

"Look, our readers want to roast Bush over the coals, but at some point that becomes counter-productive -- the public has to have an appetite for that kind of witch hunt. But a lot of wrongdoing occurred during the Bush years, and it needs to be fixed, and it can't be fixed until the extent of the damage is surveyed. That's going to take some real investigating." John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

BOBBY JINDAL

"Brilliant, principled, articulate." David Kopel, The Volokh Conspiracy

OTHER/NONE/COMBINATION

"Sadly, I don't know who the next voice of the Republican Party could be. There are some good guys, but not many who seem likely to become the voice of the party soon. The Republican leadership back bench needs to be replenished." Jon Henke, The Next Right

"Assuming you're talking about a political front person, that would be Sarah Palin. If we're talking about Congress, Eric Cantor and Jim DeMint." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

"In all honesty, the cupboard is a bit bare at the moment. I am interested in hearing more from Bobby Jindal, but I am not ready to nominate anyone as 'leading voice' at the moment. One thing is for sure: not Sarah Palin." Steven Taylor, PoliBlog

"I've yet to learn of a Republican politician who is not only an effective conservative (such as Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Michael Steele, etc.), but who also has the Reagan-esque or Churchill-esque quality of being able to communicate those ideas effectively to those Americans who don't live or breathe politics." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"Sorry, I have no hero in mind. I've got to hear what the 'candidates' have to say and we'll see who should emerge." Martin Solomon, Solomonia

"President Obama must give people something tangible to see that has been accomplished: jobs. An economic stimulus is paramount, seen in the guise of jobs for rebuilding our infrastructure. But just as important is the creation of green jobs. These go together." Taylor Marsh

"This question is sorta newspeak. By 'stimulus,' I assume you mean bailouts and entitlements. By 'health care reform,' I assume you mean a Brit- or Canadian-style national health scam. By 'immigration,' I assume you mean amnesty, with border control an afterthought at best." Robert Miller, JoshuaPundit

"It might be promising to be passed, but that doesn't mean it's good for the country." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"The economic bailout will absorb so much money that there will be little left for anything else." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

"Given the plunge in gas prices, the political pressure to deal with energy will subside until such a time as oil prices surge again." Steven Taylor, PoliBlog

"Re: the economic 'stimulus,' I'm certain economic legislation will emerge from D.C. in the following year. I doubt it will have a very stimulating effect. Re: 'energy production,' I'm sure all sorts of 'green' legislation will emerge, but energy production will actually decline as the Dems constrict traditional energy and put all their hope in unproven, often hypothetical green energy. I could say the same for all the others: The Dems will legislate aggressively and significantly in every area, but I'd be careful with the adjectives." Bookworm, Bookworm Room

"I think the Democrats' No. 1 agenda in the coming Congress is going to be to nationalize the health and health insurance industry. That and getting the horribly misnamed 'Employee Free Choice Act' passed to please their union masters." Rob Port, Say Anything

"I use 'reform' and 'promising' advisedly." Dan McLaughlin, Baseball Crank

"Right now, Obama's our blank canvas we've painted our dreams on. The painting's never as good as what we've imagined." Lee Papa, The Rude Pundit

"Anti-war activists misjudged Obama's national security core from the beginning. His 'water's edge' national security team is the clearest proof. They also never understood his political pragmatism, but especially his FDR, Truman, JFK strong defense center." Taylor Marsh

"Anti-war activists already are looking for any signs that Obama might be something less than an anti-military pacifist (and he never claimed to be an anti-military pacifist) so they can complain he is as big a hawk as Bush." Barbara O'Brien, The Mahablog

"Keeping Gates and bringing on Clinton almost guarantees a 'stay-the-course' routine on the war; that will totally tick off the anti-war folks. However, when it comes to unions, I'd be surprised if card check does not become law, which will improve his standing among his union base. I also expect him to reinstitute the ban on offshore drilling." J.R. Hoeft, Bearing Drift

"Anti-war activists will be disappointed that his Iraq policy will be much closer to Bush's than he promised during the primaries." David Kopel, The Volokh Conspiracy

"The unions are going to get their card check. Business groups are going to get stuck with big new taxes and mandates on health insurance. Hispanics, at least those interested in amnesty, are going to be disappointed when nothing passes. And anti-war activists are going to be disappointed when Obama realizes that talking about foreign policy is a much different animal than actually setting foreign policy." Rob Port, Say Anything

"The hard left is going to be disappointed. That's good for Obama and the country, but not good for the relationships." James Joyner, Outside The Beltway