At a campaign rally in Florida on Friday, Barack Obama cautioned a fired-up crowd about the dangers of divisive political rhetoric as hecklers interrupted his remarks. The repeated taunts--at times, curse words directed at the former president--prompted Obama to wonder aloud why his political opponents, who currently hold both houses of Congress and the White House, exhibit so much anger.

"Why is it that the folks who won the last election are so mad all the time?" he said. "When I won the presidency, at least my side felt pretty good."