GOP more willing to go after Obama

Some will recall that barely three weeks ago as the trench lines were being dug for the stimulus fight -- trench lines that will mostly stay in place for almost every upcoming policy(spending) fight -- the Republican leadership was very careful to temper it's criticism of the stimulus by mostly referring to Democratic congressional leaders as opposed to the policy drivers at the White House. Obama had been very careful politically to extend his hand and show a true interest in garnering bipartisan support for his bill and the GOP didn't want to look like they were smacking that hand away simply for the sake of opposition, and also because Obama's soaring popularity and the confidence Americans seem to have in his administration doesn't make them look petty in the eyes of the American public.
Well three weeks can be a long time in politics, and as a new article in the Washington Post explains, Republicans leadership has changed it's tune, they've seen a chink in Obama's armor and plan to exploit it. That weakness, they feel, is over the omnibus spending bill meandering it's way through congress this week, Obama has said he will not veto the bill -- which Republicans are claiming is chock full of earmarks and pork-barrel projects -- despite repeatedly pledging throughout the campaign to go "line by line" through all federal spending bills and remove any unneccessary earmarks or wasteful spending.
Republicans also criticized a letter that was written to Russian leaders asking for help in keeping nuclear arms away from Iran, and have been howling across the cable spectrum and on the Sunday morning shows saying that the stock market tumbles over the last month are a direct response from markets to his policies saying the president's policies are anti-business, and that he hasn't been able to muster confidence in investors or banks despite his ambitious budget or the billions of dollars in funding that has been injected over the past few months.
It's a risky move for Republicans to take on the still popular president, who, according to Real Clear politics has approval ratings still in the high 50's and low 60's, while congressional Republicans enjoy much more dismal numbers averaging in the 30's and sometimes lower. These numbers may be real, but if there was any time for the Republicans to attack, and assert themselves as a still real presence in Washington, then that time would be now, when the "I told you so" option is still on the table for the next elections.
Also, if the GOP can wrestle the media narrative away from the white house and focus the public's attention on their own points and offer real and sensible alternatives then that "I told you so" moment may come sooner than they think.