A Democratic president elected with his party in control of Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi putting the squeeze on her “moderate” members. So-called centrist Democratic senators sweating the fallout of their party’s agenda at home and putting the brakes on their leaders in Washington.

This is our national politics in 2021, but it also applies to Washington during the fall of 2009 as the legislative fight over Obamacare hit high gear. In many ways, both Republicans and Democrats carry the scars and the trophies from that period.