As they argued, Obama hit the road to California to sell something -- his $3.6 trillion budget plan -- that he and his fellow Democrats should be able to pass nearly entirely on their own. Most of the spending measures, apart from the president's health-care reform proposal (which we know virtually nothing about) and his energy cap-and-trade plan (which Republicans now call "cap-and-tax") could be passed by a simple majority, with Democratic votes alone. And yet Obama, worried about opposition from moderate Democrats, let alone Republicans, is having to stump for his plan. And he has recruited one of his top political operatives, David Plouffe, to create an unprecedented grassroots-and-ne...

As they argued, Obama hit the road to California to sell something -- his $3.6 trillion budget plan -- that he and his fellow Democrats should be able to pass nearly entirely on their own. Most of the spending measures, apart from the president's health-care reform proposal (which we know virtually nothing about) and his energy cap-and-trade plan (which Republicans now call "cap-and-tax") could be passed by a simple majority, with Democratic votes alone. And yet Obama, worried about opposition from moderate Democrats, let alone Republicans, is having to stump for his plan. And he has recruited one of his top political operatives, David Plouffe, to create an unprecedented grassroots-and-netroots campaign for it, as well.

The sales job is likely to get harder in the days ahead. We're now finding out that the Congressional Budget Office says deficits in coming years will be at least $1 trillion more than Team Obama estimates. How much more will a worried public accept? "Bailout fatigue is palpable," a top GOP Hill aide told me.