A broad consensus, one way or another?

The Washington Post had an article mentioning several of the possible takes on whether patent reform will proceed, or not,
in early 2008.

There was a quote from the Coalition for Patent Fairness:

Senators, representatives of the Bush administration and other interested parties have been meeting regularly "to find balanced solutions on all the issues," said Mark Isakowitz, spokesman for the Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group representing several large tech companies. "We respectfully disagree [with the Bush administration] on damages, but we are confident ... we can work through concerns and achieve broad consensus on the bill, which would be a victory for the administration, the Congress and our economy," he added.

The Washington Post did not mention the slippery game the Coalition for Patent Fairness has been playing on the position of academics on patent reform:

"Coalition for Patent Fairness" not playing fair with universities?

See also letter of John C. Vaughan of AAU.