| All this talk about bipartisanship is overrated. Yes, the tone of politics could be better. It used to be that senators could disagree strongly on the floor of the Senate and then go off and enjoy a mint julep together. But there are serious, deep, irreconcilable differences between Democrats and Republicans on a host of issues. On the whole, Democrats believe that government is the solution; Republicans believe it is the problem. You can't paper over this with nice talk about "bipartisanship." That's why we have two parties and elections. Somebody wins and somebody loses and the winner is expected to carry out his program. When Al Gore got more votes than George Bush in 2000, nobody was demanding (or expecting) Bush to cede half (or any other fraction) of his power to Gore. The Democrats got one cabinet slot, and a fairly minor one at that (Transportation). People who moan that the politicians should work together to solve the country's problems don't seem to realize that both the Democrats and Republicans want to solve the country's problems--but their solutions are totally incompatible. |
Nothing he's saying here is groundbreaking, and it is certainly something that many have said before. But if you're used to reading his daily posts, this is a big change in tone. Come 2010 & 2012, Democrats will do well at the polls if their plans are working, and they will lose seats if their plans are not. No one will say, well, I lost my job and house, but hey, there are three Republicans in the cabinet, I guess I'll stick with the Dems!
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