Solomon the Bipartisan 1
When King Solomon offered to split the baby, he was not being bipartisan.
He was getting results.
There are too many out there who define “bipartisanship” as some form of splitting the baby. As long as the result is somewhere sort of half-way between the desires of the two major parties, it must be ipso facto “bipartisan” because it’s in between (in Left Blogistan, that philosophy is often referred to as “Broderism”).
The flaw in that reasoning is that what virtue there is in bi-partisanship lies in improved results, not in a split baby.
Today’s National Journal contains President Obama’s thought on bi-partisanship (emphasis added):
Cooperation on the economic agenda, he suggested, may have been unusually difficult because it “touched on… one of the core differences between Democrats and Republicans” — whether tax cuts or public spending can best stimulate growth. He predicted there may be greater opportunity for cooperation on issues such as the budget, entitlements and foreign policy. And if he keeps reaching out, he speculated, Republicans may face “some countervailing pressures” from the public “to work in a more constructive way.” White House aides suggest that regardless of how congressional Republicans react on upcoming issues, Obama will pursue alliances with Republican governors and Republican-leaning business groups and leaders.
Yet while promising to continue to seek peace with congressional Republicans, Obama also made clear he’s prepared for the alternative. “I am an eternal optimist [but] that doesn’t mean I’m a sap,” he said pointedly. “So my goal is to assume the best but prepare for a whole range of different possibilities in terms of how Congress reacts.”
Via The Huffington Post.
Also posted, with slight edits, at the Great Orange Satan.
February 16, 2009 at 2:59 am
Excellent point! Hope Obama’s paying attention…