When President Obama signed the State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion into law Wednesday, the relative quiet of third-party groups was a dramatic counterpoint to previous SCHIP efforts -- and, perhaps, an argument that when it comes to getting results, a willing White House trumps advocacy.

In the fall of 2007, left-leaning groups bombarded the airwaves with ads slamming George W. Bush for vetoing the SCHIP renewal and pushing lawmakers to override it, to no avail. MoveOn.org, Americans United For Change, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had campaigns going -- not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing -- in an effort to renew SCHIP. This year, even though these groups' attention has been focused on economic legislation, the legislation passed with relative ease.

Why the drastic change? That's easy, according to Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Americans United For Change: Bush is now out of the equation. Funk pegged the former president as the "only impediment" to renewing SCHIP two years ago. The legislation moved so quickly this time, Funk said, because "it's always been a high priority of Democratic leadership" and there was no pushback from Republican lawmakers.

In 2007, rebuking Bush soaked up hundreds of thousands of advertising and promotional dollars, Funk said. Today, he said, his group's money is needed to help pass Obama's economic stimulus package.

Nita Chaudhary, campaign director for MoveOn.org, said Obama's signing proves there are "enormous opportunities in front of us now that there weren't before." Once getting wind that Congress was going to take up the bill soon, MoveOn "put in thousands of calls and sent thousands of letters" into lawmakers to urge its passage, Chaudhary said. By then, though, the SCHIP ball was rolling.