February is the cruelest month – at least for Barack Obama. After the very real sense of hope and renewal that surrounded Obama’s inauguration, shared even by many who did not vote for him, came the morning after. First, another scandal over unpaid taxes took down Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle. Then came the acrimonious battle over the stimulus bill, with a victory that may or may not turn out to be a Pyrrhic one.
