With a presidential election looming, sluggish job growth and military action continuing in Iraq, candidates for the White House and Congress must find ways to move their message out to their core constituencies and gain the attention of voters, a major barrier to bipartisanship. Consumer issues are likely to gain greater traction as the year wears on as well if key Democrats jump ship to wait for more consumer-friendly legislation. This is likely to lead to a delay in bankruptcy reform or emergence of a bill that incorporates a wide range of the credit card industry would view as watering down the impact of the law. And in the Senate, expect the abortion language to be back, which the Republican-controlled Congress again would find hard to swallow. SOURCE: Hoovers Online / Card News Mar. 17, 2004