One Side to Every Story

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/opinion/17morone.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=morone&st=cse

One Side to Every Story

By JAMES MORONE
Published: February 16, 2009

Providence, R.I.

snip//

Great presidents do manage to push past partisanship — not by reaching out to the other party, but by overwhelming it with a new vision. Franklin Roosevelt did not offer a hand to the defeated Hooverites. Nor did the Republicans rally round the president for long during the Great Depression. In the House, the opposition voted almost unanimously to kill Social Security in 1935. Roosevelt’s success lay not in cooperation, but in the force of the collective, social-gospel vision he articulated from the start.

Ronald Reagan’s fierce attachment to three verities — markets are good, government is bad, communism is evil — also meant little reaching out to the other side. His every move reverberated with the cold war philosophy he described so simply: “We win and they lose.”

Roosevelt and Reagan reveal the dirty rotten secret of bipartisanship. It happens only when one side is cowed, beaten or frightened. More competitive elections mean more ardent debates.

And so it should be. Our government is designed that way. In the Federalist Papers, James Madison offered his bold solution to the problem of clashing interests: more clashing interests. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” he declared.

In that way, our partisan debates are no shame. The clash and bluster may not sound pretty, but they are how we choose between great principles.

President Obama looked generous in reaching out to Senator Gregg. But in the end, Mr. Gregg has it right: kind words and good intentions cannot build a bridge between competing political philosophies. History, not to mention the Republican rejection of his stimulus package, offers Mr. Obama a clear guide: Pay less attention to the other party and spend more time — much more — persuading America to embrace what you believe.


James Morone is a professor of political science at Brown University.

[Demeter]

1. All Too True!

[hay rick]

2. bipartisanship.

Bipartisan compromise is possible when both sides are willing to keep partisan interests subservient to the welfare of the American people. The Republicans have demonstrated that they are not willing partners. Time for Obama to fire up the bulldozer.

[sellitman]

3. Off topic but....

If those hearts you got were candy I'd want to be your Dentist!

(By the way...they are well deserved!)

:hi: