this takes the ample of recent polls 45.7 to 44.9. that is where we are. the panel, charles lane, opinion writer for post. jeff zelney national political correspondent for "new york times." syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. chuck, the line the president used about this is all baked in the cake. the republicans ordered a steak dinner an walked away on the bill. does it sell? >> i'm confuseed whether they ate the steak before they left or not. you wasn't entirely clear. i don't think it sells so much anymore. actually, there is plenty of truth to what he said. the real truth is the recession what blew a hole in the federal budget. i think after three years in office, people are looking for more of an explanation how we get out of this than how we got into it. that seems i think to be what a lot of people including a lot of democrats are concerned about in terms of the campaign message. the lack of something positiv