Summer of Love: Planning for the Summer of 2010

The Health Care debate is over. The Democrats won. Okay, it's not that simple, but that's the message the public will get. Dems 1, GOP 0. That's a good message. Now the legislative leadership on the Hill is relaxing. Likely it is that nothing else they do in their lives as legislators will again be this hard. What's on the agenda:
1. Financial reform. Bank-bashing. This is a bad place for the GOP. It's almost as bad as blocking unemployment benefits. It reminds the public that the GOP has always been the party of Wall Street. [That's the only solid thread going straight back to 1854 when they used to also be on the side of minority rights and democratic inclusion. This mid-19th-century coalition that embraced progressive ideas but managed to exclude urban immigrant labor was crucial in preventing the development of a real "labor" party in the USA]. This will be a Democratic win. Dems vs. Bush and Bankers is part of the 2010 playbook.
2. Immigration reform. Whoa, nellie! Can Democrats split the GOP from its last few Latino votes in Texas and Florida? Possibly. Obama got 71% of Latino women but only 55% of Latino men in Texas. In CA, 71% Latino men and 75% Latino women. Note that percentage of Latino men in Texas still voting GOP. There's been a lot of talk about what happens if those votes switch over. That appears to be about 3% of the electorate. That would have made the vote 52-48% - hella close.