That the President accorded a major religious institution an accommodation (again, without change in substance) makes sense from a diplomatic long-term avenue and, certainly, from the political numbers perspective.  As for the latter:  In addition to the political calculus in key electoral vote states, the polls taken immediately before the compromise suggested more of a split than the esoteric summer questions asked before the Bishops organized pressure-on-the-flock campaign. Reference the Pew Research Center.

Addams Family:  My take is that it is sometimes the better course to act in a diplomatic fashion--even when the resisting force is being intransigent & beyond reason--in order to obtain the needed reform.  To have attempted to charge ahead with the various potential splits in Democratic districts would only have provided a short-term élan, and the consequence may well have been to portray the Bishops as First Amendment martyrs to the majority who don't read beyond the first paragraph.  

Now, see what has transpired:  The Bishops are being cast in some accounts as "extremely conservative" and the Republicans are getting into the substantive area of contraception like a briar patch.  Without taking this line of thinking too far, one could argue that this resembles how this Congress has been played/allowed themselves to be played by the WH all along...this House of Representatives with it's obdurancy, it's 12 percent range rating, and with the image of the reasonable Obama In the background.

The article is from last summer when that strategy was being planned out. That strategy is a continuation of all of his policies of the past three years.

And the Conyers quote is a complaint from one of his party members about his batsh*t crazy drive for bipartisanship with batsh*t crazy republicans.

But what does Conyers know? I guess it never occurred to him that Obama's batsh*t crazy drive for bipartisanship with batsh*t crazy republicans would result in 20% of republicans declaring to vote for him this early in the campaign, or he would have kept his big mouth shut instead of smearing his president with truth.

trust me.  there is plenty of crazy out there to disqualify Ricky.  unfortunately I think we will probably see most of it before the MI primary.  I am just hoping that the MI voters will be so turned off by  Romneys carpet bombing that they will just ignore it.

I think thats possible.

and btw#2 he is on the very short list for Ronmeys (or whoevers) shortlist for VP.

I like this extremely sensitive quote from the bills chief sponsor:

In fact, the mandate is classic sumptuary legislation, prohibiting personal spending choices which offend the moral or religious beliefs of Congress. Thus, the Government's individual mandate is not a regulation of commerce; it is a compelled societal duty. Indeed, the individual mandate is not voluntary commercial intercourse; it is forcible economic rape.