from outside the Oval Office, compared to inside. Outside the Oval Office, we emphasize the differences. But once in office, there is a lot of similarity [between administrations] when it comes to key government ideas. Obama inherited many of his administration's key economic challenges from the Bush administration; will that hamper his chances, or will the voters take that into account? Obama's narrative is that he inherited all these Republican problems. He applied Democrat solutions to them, the economy has improved, and we will have improved health care now. The Republican narrative is that those problems were the result of both party's policies, going back to Reagan and then Clinton, and that we have to take a long term view in order to understand how this mess developed. What role will health care play in this election? The Democrats are coalescing around health care as a new American right, and that plays well for Obama. In order to win, Romney has to mobilize the Republican base against universal health care. He has to help them overcome their doubts about him, by making them realize that they need him in order to overturn the health care reforms. Do you think the bullying incident involving Romney will come back to haunt him during the vote? So far, Romney appears to be a Velcro candidate: all kinds of negative stories have stuck to him. He has allowed the Democrats to define him by these negative reports. He needs to reintroduce himself to the