I can only speak to my observations, but it really does seem to me that at this point Mike Hearn controls Gavin Andresen as effectively as a hand inserted into a sock controls a puppet.  This was not always the case, but it seems (to me) that within the last year or so it has become very hard to not notice.

Now controlling Mr. Andresen is not equivalent to controlling Bitcoin (thank God!) and the frustration of this seems to be showing on Mr. Hearn, but it is a relatively potent tool.  And 'if all one has is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail' as they say.