Before: Economic news relentlessly bad

After: Green shoots and some solid newspaper headlines

Before: Business people thought the president had no appreciation for how markets work and the president had no plan to deal with it

After: Business people think the president has no appreciation for how markets work and/but the president has a plan to deal with it

Before: The president and Republicans had little overlap in their agendas

After: Education, tax reform, trade, deficit reduction, entitlement reform, the 1099 health care fix, Afghanistan, war on terror

Before: Pete Rouse and Valerie Jarrett

After: Pete Rouse and Valerie Jarrett

Before: Snake bit, bad press, caught up in the power of the right-wing, politico-media Freak Show

After: On a roll re-beloved by the press, (although not close to 2008 levels), laughing at, de-fanging, and/or ignoring the Freak Show

Before: A perpetual fat 'n' juicy target for the right -- and thus easily pushed out to the political center

After: Has BoehnerCantorRyan in a "no, after YOU" trap over spending cuts