Atrios is exactly right.

Sez Duncan:

I certainly agree that obstructionism in and of itself isn't really something politicians should fear, but of course one has to look at how the press covers these things. Peoples' perceptions of whether "Democrats failed" or "Republicans obstructed" depend on large part on whether the press reports that "Democrats failed" or that "Republicans obstructed."

Though, of course, not all of the blame is with the press. The Democrats aren't pushing this narrative aggressively. It is unclear to me why exactly that is. But I'm just an idiot with a cable modem and they're members of the Greatest Deliberative Body in the World so maybe I should just be quiet.

The headline in the American-Statesman a couple days ago was exactly that, "Democrats' Iraq Strategy Fails" or something along those lines. Really bizarre.

Why wasn't the headline, "GOP blocks change on Iraq, backs Bush"?

I'm quite sure that if Democrats were in the minority and blocking an immensely popular piece of legislation, the headlines would be different and there would be 24/7 cries of "obstructionism" and Rush Limbaugh would be calling for the dissolution of the Senate.