the reason they're doing better at the state level is because they're not listening to the messaging shops in washington. the democratic party and frankly a lot of the national unions do a lousy job of talking to the american people, because they talk in stilted, weak compromising terms. in wisconsin, they started out with a message, an injury to one is an injury to all. old-fashioned labor talk, and you know what? everybody got excited. not just union people, but farmers, retires, students. so i just think that, in a sense these state struggles have borrowed a page from some of the more militant republicans, right? conservatives don't pull their punches. they talk tough, and you're seeing these unions talk tough, be aggressive, and people like it. >> senator, that's why i put the question to you. we're watching this fight that you're having about the budget at the federal level. it seems that republicans have won the fight, because you are going over numbers, you're not arguing over policy, you're