But aides to Mr. Obama said the rapidly escalating threat to his health care plans had led him to order them to come up with a crisper message. And Democratic Party officials enlisted in the fight by the White House acknowledged in interviews that the growing intensity of the opposition to the president’s health care plans — within the last week likened on talk radio to something out of Hitler’s Germany, lampooned by protesters at Congressional town-hall-style meetings and vilified in television commercials — had caught them off guard and forced them to begin an August counteroffensive.  

Roaming the Reagan library for a day would have been a good start for Palin. Spending weeks studying Reagan's rise to power would be even better. She could profit from learning that Reagan was a good listener, a quick study, a man who liked to delegate but who didn't hesitate to make big decisions, a quintessential Mr. Nice Guy who was deeply committed to values that Palin shares. She would learn that while he was uninterested in the California governorship except as a pit stop on the way to the White House, he nonetheless accepted lengthy professional coaching on state issues and how to address them in knowledgeable sound bites. If Palin wants to be taken seriously as a presidential contender, she'll accept the same kind of coaching on national and international issues.