MODERATES ASSERT - AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  Both Republicans and moderate Democrats are starting to find their voice, Republicans mostly on national security and moderate Dems on just about everything.  One of the lightning-rod issues to come up soon is health-care "reform," pushed by the president and his allies in Congress.  But, as The Politico reports, there are warning lights:

Two powerful groups of moderate Democratic lawmakers have met with their House leaders to warn against pushing health care reform proposals too far to the left.

The New Democrat Coalition and the Blue Dogs met separately Thursday with Democratic leaders to push for legislation they could embrace.

"We made it pretty clear that there are 51 of us, and if they want our vote on health care reform, we're going to be pretty involved in writing the bill," said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), chairman of the Blue Dogs' health care task force.

The first-of-their-kind meetings signaled that it could be more difficult than many expected for the House to pass a more progressive bill as a counterweight to a more moderate version expected to come from the Senate.

COMMENT:  This pushback from the center is bound to increase.  The moderate Dems' 51 votes provide the balance of power in the House.  They are not going to go down to defeat in next year's election just to satisfy the leftist fringe of the party.

Polls show that the president is far more popular than his policies.  Members of Congress read polls.

May 16, 2009