But Democrats who favor the proposal said they hoped the opponents would succumb to a public groundswell for improving the political system.

The paralysis in the leadership, and the public groundswell for change, are combining to help Zhao.

However, there was no scientific consensus then on the links between diet and health, hence no public groundswell for mandatory labeling.

The legislature meets for only 140 days every two years, and it has rarely faced a public groundswell for action except to reduce crime.

It has been fashionable in Washington to say there is no public groundswell for a campaign cleanup.

There has been a public groundswell of support for Mr. Thaksin in recent weeks.

The campaign seems unlikely to generate a public groundswell of support to get China into the trade group.

It is safe to say that there is no public groundswell for Hinckley's release.

He said that the existing public groundswell to cut state spending further and continuing job losses in the private sector would provide enough public anger to support a tough negotiating position by the state.

During the internal maneuvering throughout the debate over an overhaul this year, politicians were just as likely to cite such outside threats to their own campaigns as they were to mention any public groundswell.