Greg Sargent over at The Plum Line is reporting that Chuck Schumer is urging his Senate colleagues to ramp up their criticisms of their Republican counterparts. Here's Sargent:

Senator Chuck Schumer is privately urging fellow Dem Senators to aggressively argue in the media that the GOP is wholly committed to blocking reform, in order to lay the political groundwork should Dems have to do reform alone, senior Senate aides confirm to me. Schumer’s private strategizing with fellow Democrats signals that the Dem Senate leadership is getting more serious about using the “reconciliation” process to get health care reform done without Republicans. Schumer has also told colleagues he believes political work has to be done in advance to sell “reconciliation” by persuading voters that the GOP is wholly opposed to reform of any kind, aides say. So he’s now urging fellow Senators to make the case about GOP obstructionism in a concerted way.

It's increasingly likely that Democrats will have to go it alone on health care, even leaving some of their centrist counterparts behind, so Schumer's pleas aren't that surprising. After running on promises of a new era of bipartisanship, Democrats urgently need to make the case that failure to achieve it isn't their fault. But is it too late? Voters have been subject to weeks of attacks that paint Democrats as bullies, who want to dictate a new health care system, take away choices and euthanize the incapacitated. Can they turn this around and point the finger at Republicans for failing to want to work with them? They're starting by pointing out that Republicans haven't offered viable alternatives, save blowing the whole thing up and starting again, which may as well be failure. But they're going to need a few more Anthony Weiners on the airwaves if this strategy is to work.

President Barack Obama plays golf Monday at the Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Onlya few days into his week-long getaway on Martha's Vineyard, PresidentObama has shown he can stretch his vacation muscle. He was photographedthis morning playing a round of golf with a plan to squeeze in sometennis in the afternoon. In response to a question about what the firstfamily has planned for the rest of the week, a White House spokesmansays that even Obama himself doesn't have a schedule--the true shakingof the organizational leash that comes with the presidency. We're alsotold he won't be making any public appearances.

All presidentstake some time off this time of year, but in decidedly different ways.Some have used August to have surgery, while others try to reconnectwith their families and home towns. We bring you the more colorful,contrived or just plain peculiar presidential vacations on which SecretService has had to tag along.