Jim DeMint's "Waterloo" comment concerning the administration healthcare power grab didn't just resonate with me, but seemed to rattle Obama as well.

"Let's just lay everything on the table," Grassley said. "A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn't going to pass if there weren't some changes made ... and the president says, 'You're going to destroy my presidency.' "

The Democrats, with a little help from the fawning state media, characterized 2008 as the second coming of the Roosevelt era--the golden age of Democrat politics. Wishful thinking and polemical excess is supposed to be for the rubes, but Democrats have always had a problem separating political reality from political theater.

Roosevelt presided over the golden era of Democrat politics because he combined remarkable personal charisma with epic fail on the part of the Republicans, and most importantly, public concordance with progressive policies. The Republican golden age (The Reagan era) enjoyed precisely the same set of circumstances--Reagan was charismatic, Carter was a bozo but most importantly, people were ready for Reagan's message of free enterprise, free trade and low taxes.

Obama got two of the three, but you need the set to build an empire.

The Democrats are trying to force the issue, but the American abhorrence of socialism is bone-deep. Its more than a little interesting that the real opposition to the health care plan is from blue-dog Democrats. These politicians know that they just can sell this load of horse crap to the folks back home.

In a very real sense, this is not just Obama's, but the Democrat party's Waterloo. They have this one shot to turn back the clock--build a bridge back to the 1930s. If they fail, they will be wiped out. I don't just mean electorally, but as a coalition. The schism between the far left, the GLBT, union and traditional Democrats is going to widen and deepen, making it damned difficult to produce the kind of leadership they need to run a national party. I mean, think about it--with Obama gone, who do the Democrats have that can stand as a unifying force?

Ironically, the Democrat's choice of agenda plays to Republican strengths. Do Republicans win on a platform of economic growth and a less meddlesome government? Damn right they do. The things that divide Republicans have become largely irrelevant at this point.

I recall predicting early this year that Obama's presidency was likely to self-destruct before the fall. It seems like I was right on the money. If Obama can't get health-care passed before the recess, he'll never do it. Next year is a mid-term election, and no one is going to want to take on a monster like health-care, particularly when they are already going to be playing defense of the Obama economy. I won't make any specific predictions about Congress, but the Democrat's situation is only going to get worse--more blue dogs and/or more Republicans.

Without health care reform as a signature accomplishment, what is Obama?

A one-term President.