Stadium Wars: Back From the Dead

In the meantime, though, even critics are left to marvel over the effectiveness of the strategy this time out. "It's certainly a proposal that was looking at the landscape about what the governor has said about not raising taxes, and what the public is saying about budget cuts," Steele acknowledges. "They bypassed a lot of obstacles."

Even Dobson, who's seen his share of stadium ploys, notes that this one is formidable. "Needless to say, this is a huge departure," Dobson says. "I've got to give them an 'A' for getting something like this to the legislature."