In other news, it is time to check in on the beta version of the Barack Obama Presidential campaign.  In 2006, Plouffe and Axelrod guided Deval Patrick to an upset primary win, and a landslide election to the Massachusetts Governor's mansion.  The race gave Plouffe and Axelrod an opportunity to test some of the themes and, in some cases, words that Obama would later use to win the White House.

Of course, it has not gone so smoothly for Patrick.  Although he began his tenure with lofty +38 approval ratings, within a year his approval ratings were upside-down.  Last time we checked, his approval was -41 and was upside-down among every major demographic and regional group.  Massachusetts voters preferred the job that Mitt Romney had done as Governor.  And the bad news keeps on coming:  Today the Boston Globe found that Patrick had 60 days in his first two years where he had no appointments on his calendar.  While the charge may be unfair, it is exactly the type of press that keeps a politician's numbers in the gutter.

Point is, Democrats have had a lot to celebrate of late.  But things happen quickly in politics, even to golden children, even in states where the opposition party is completely discredited and anathema.

Of course, the challenge for the GOP is to find a halfway credible challenger.