When will Obama Realize the Republicans don't WANT to Work with Him?

[Bullet1987]

I admire his appeal for bipartisanship, but let's be real...outside of maybe 1-3 in the Senate, he's never going to get HUGE Republican support from elected officials. I think it's part of the game though. Obama knows the GOP wants to see him fail. That's their only shot left at survival. My only fear is that Obama will sacrifice good legislation for acceptance.

[ClassWarrior]

1. I dunno, he's purdy stoopid. Maybe in a year or two?...

:eyes:

NGU.

[Cha]

16. I'm thinking Obama is

3 or 4 chess steps ahead and we'll find out down the road why he's trying to get along with the assholes who represent their respective constituents in Congress.

I picture meetings with Obama Crew figuring out how to get the job done with or without said assholes.

[elocs]

22. I am thinking Obama is 3 or 4 chess steps ahead of many here at DU. n/t

[Cha]

27. Oh yeah, and some

never give him credit when it's obvious.

[elocs]

29. And there is constant hand wringing here about "why did Obama do this?" or

"why did Obama do that?" Yes, stupid, ignorant, naive Obama. :sarcasm:

[ClassWarrior]

23. As another poster said the other day, Obama plays...

...that three-dimensional chess from Star Trek.



NGU.

[Cha]

26. lol..Cool..

I've never seen that, thanks, Class:)

[ClassWarrior]

28. BTW...

...good to see ya, zidz -- I mean Cha.

:hi:

NGU.

[Cha]

30. You, too, Class!

:hi: :fistbump:

[Hieronymus]

33. President Obama is herding those Repugs into a corner.

[Cha]

34. And lumping

limpy rush with 'em.

[Hippo_Tron]

2. I'm pretty sure he already knows that

Which is why he keeps extending the hand knowing full well that they won't work with him. He comes off looking good and they come off looking like assholes. Clinton's re-election was partly based on the fact that the public soon came to see Newt Gingrich as slime.

[havocmom]

14. While extending them a hand in friendship, he is also giving them the rope

by which they hang their own obstructionist party.

Not a bad plan at all

[Cha]

18. Right...rope

in hand. Hand and rope.

[zulchzulu]

31. Ding ding! We have a winner! n/t

[rcrush]

3. I believe Obama will only sacrifice what he's always been

prepared to sacrifice. He seems to be playing some kind of game with the GOP and he's looking better than they are. It might turn out that Obama will get his bill passed the way he wants it passed and the GOP will just look stupid.

[tabatha]

4. He knows that.

He knows that.

He cannot give them any excuse to blame him for partisanship.

He knows what he is doing - more than you.

[Avalux]

5. He's not dumb. He KNOWS they don't want to work with him.

That's why he's playing bipartisan, because it makes them look like idiots. Obama doesn't need them for shit but by being inclusive, he wins with the American people - at least the rational ones.

[and-justice-for-all]

10. I agree...nt

[immoderate]

37. Obama is shoving the olive branch of bipartisanship in their stupid faces!

Maybe he knows they won't take it. But he has maneuvered them into a win/win position for himself. And every time he does this (and he always does) I find myself scratching my head and asking, "Can he really be this smart?"

--imm

[hedgehog]

6. I think Obama is doing the right thing by making a sincere effort to reach

out to the Republicans. At best, they come to their senses. At worst, the average American can see that they are more interested in seeing Obama fail than the country succeed!

[muntrv]

7. He knows. Barack extended the hand of bi-partisanship to prove the point

that the repukes are partisan hacks.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. I am absolutely sure that he knows it very well.

Looks to me like he's playing a very savvy game of rope-a-dope. He's given them every opportunity to cooperate with respect to legislation that a huge majority of the people want, and they've refused to work with him just because they think they can humiliate him. But it isn't working, and it will be assholes like Boner and Kyl who will end up humiliated. Obama is setting them up. If they keep behaving like this they'll never win another election for decades.

[and-justice-for-all]

9. Oh I think he knows...

But by showing that he is reaching across the isle, he can at least say "I tried". I think what is really going on is Obama is telling them what is up and they are either on board or not. If they re, great, if they are not...well too fucking bad, they had 8 fuckin' years and all we got was a massive recession..

Repukes are dead weight and obstructionist.

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

11. Kill them with kindness

and inclusion. When they won't play they look like jerks and he comes out smelling like a rose.

[BlooInBloo]

12. Obama must be the biggest fucking idiot EVER, accordiing to genius DUers...

Oh, wait - I see where my error is.

[Andy823]

13. As many others have already said

He knows what he is doing!

Read the news today and you will find that republican governors "WANT" Obama's help, and they want the stimulus bill to pass so they can get help. Now the house has already showed they could care less about their states and the people in them, but what will the senate do? If the governors of states with republican senators want the money, how can the senators say no? Now I am sure the bill will be change in the senate, and I am also sure that it needs some changes, but with pressure on congress from the governors that really need help, I think it will pass with support from republicans in the senate and when it goes back to the house, I think there will be republicans voting for it there next time also. I really think that Obama is doing a great job, and this is only the beginning! He knows how to play the game!

[RinaX]

15. I was just going to say that

The idiots in Congress may be fools, but a number of Republican governors aren't.

[cali]

17. oh for fuck's sake. when will you realize that Obama

knows what he's doing here? It's brain dead stupid to tip your hand. Obama is blithely doing things his way while appearing as the good guy to the American public.

[wroberts189]

19. He already does ..thats why he acts so nice to them.

and when he is ready ..he will pull out the big guns ..with everyone's urging because his very public attempts at "post-partisanship" failed due to the pubs not showing any good faith..

[CTyankee]

20. This was the acid test to see if the pukes in Congress were realy living in reality.

Their refusal to vote with Obama was proof that they haven't learned their lesson. This was made abundantly clear. They are living in a dream world. They are dead, like the guy in "The Sixth Sense" and they don't know it.

Obama is brilliant. This was a master strategy, designed to strip the Repubs bare in front of everybody and show them to be the prime example of what America DOESN'T want right now.

I doff my cap to Obama!

[Thrill]

21. He knows it. But that doesn't mean you don't make the effort

He ran on change, and so far thats what he's doing. If the Repukes don't play along. Obama is the one who will continue with the high approval ratings.

[underpants]

24. He knows it he is just letting them show it in public

and they thought they were going to get to work out their problems in a vacuum

Silly Wepubricans

[Sky Masterson]

25. You only have to peck off a few.

it's all numbers.
You catch more bees with honey..

[graywarrior]

32. He knows

He's always known.

[PurityOfEssence]

35. When Bill Clinton does

Need I say more?

[backscatter712]

36. Obama says...

[TeamJordan23]

38. It just makes the Republicans look bad, and we still get to push through legistlation regardless

So its a win-win in my books.

[quakerboy]

39. Maybe about the same time he sees the Voters realize it?

[AZBlue]

40. So now you think you're smarter than Obama and have a better understand of politics than he does?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Tennessee Gal]

41. Obama is playing this brilliantly.

I am enjoying watching the stupid Repubs put out Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh as their heroes.


And Obama is not just playing a political game. He is doing what is right for the American people.


I am so impressed!

[YanquiUXO]

42. Obama knows damn well the Republicans have no intention of helping him.

What Obama is doing is giving the repukes a lot of rope. And like the predictable idiots that they are, they are promptly hanging themselves with it. This is nothing but a repeat of 1993 when Clinton (with the help of Gore's tie-breaker) passed his economic plan. At the time, repukes called it a job-killer and that it fail. What happened? 3 years later the economy was BOOMING and Clinton securely won the presidency again, thanks to his brilliant economic plan.

Of course, what we deal with now is much larger in scale, but the principle is still the same. And once this economic plan does it's job (IE - saves the economy) it will be the democrats who arise as the saviors, and the republicans will be the bad guys who did everything they could to undermine our president. This in effect will destroy whatever is left of the GOP and will leave them out of power for many, many years.

Good times. Good times.

[CakeGrrl]

43. You've answered your own question, haven't you?

On one hand, you think he's playing the game of wanting bipartisanship (which I believe he's doing), yet on the other you think he's going to waste time trying to get the GOP to "accept" him.

I don't think he's counting on GOP acceptance at all. Just because he hasn't been a knee-jerk reactionary to everything they say and do doesn't mean he's unaware of them.

He's seen what hasn't worked against the GOP; I think he's doing something different and more effective, and no one knows what to expect because no one has been successful before.

He knows he has public opinion on his side, and he knows that the American people at large want and need him to succeed. He's making sure he goes on record as giving the GOP every opportunity to work together so they can't brand him as a partisan ideologue.