The Trap of Bipartisanship

I am a big fan of cooperative governing. I believe it is the people's right to have a government that actually governs - After all, it is our taxes that pay their salaries.

But unless you live in a dictatorship, leaders don't lead alone. Even authoritarian governments like China's need coalitions to run things effectively. In our two-party system, it is rare for one party to have enough members to rule without challenge, and when it does happen and the party in power is the Democrats, getting a coalition together can still be like trying to herd cats.

Therefore, bipartisanship is absolutely necessary to get things done in this country. The people know that, which is why they elected the most credible bipartisan candidate they could find. The Clinton name is popular among Democrats, but our memories of the Clinton years of partisan bickering are still too fresh to think of Hillary as viably bipartisan. John McCain has a history of working with Democrats even when it annoys others in the GOP, but over the last 8 years he aligned himself with the once-popular Bush and his hard-line tactics, and as a presidential candidate he spiraled down into the most despicable of race-baiting and partisan rhetoric, so he lost the moral authority to claim bipartisanship.

Barak Obama, as a fresh face with a clear vision of an America that is not divided by its "Red" or "Blue" ideology, convinced the American people that he could do bipartisanship (or as he calls it, "post-partisanship") better than anyone else, and now he is in the White House.

There is only one problem: In order for bipartisanship to work, both parties have to want to do it. What's more, if the rubric you've given the country to judge your success is based on how effectively bipartisan you are, then all your opponents have to do to create your failure is what they want to do anyway: oppose you at every turn.

This is, as we've seen, exactly what the Republican strategy is - Set up Obama and Congressional Democrats for failure, and wait to reap the rewards in two to four years.

Fortunately, America seems wise to the ruse. The people recognize that you can't find compromise with those who only want to be in control and have no desire to co-govern from the junior position. According to recent polls, most Americans give Obama high marks for reaching out to Republicans, and they give equally low marks to Republicans on the same topic.

Of equal good fortune is that Obama is on top of this. As he said recently, "I'm an optimist, not a sap." This is the mistake that mean-spirited people make all the time, confusing a bright outlook on life with gullibility and a "kick me" sign on your back.

Only time will tell if Obama is an effective bipartisan player, but if this opening act is any indication, in two years' time the American people will lay any failure of bipartisanship at the feet of those who refused to play along. As such, with any luck by 2010 we will either have a truly bipartisan government, or the obstructionists will lose even their last toe-hold on national power.