Obama's big mistake.

[Postman]

Could Obama have won the Presidency without his "let's all just get along" "bipartisan" rhetoric?

The Republicans have seen the hole and are trying to drive a truck through it - Bipartisanship

Or should I say, their concerted effort at not being bipartisan.

The Democrats won huge victories last November yet they continue to govern as if they are in the minority. As if they need Republicans to get anything done.

That is the problem. As long as the Democrats continue to act as the illegitimate child of the Republican Party, they will always be open to successful exploitation by the right wing.

This country is sinking. The Democrats are turning for help to their Republican Party shipmates and instead of throwing life preservers, they're getting handed anvils.

[elleng]

1. How about good p.r?

It may appear to some that they govern as if they are in the minority, but I don't believe any of that appearance comes from or will come from the President. And the future will only be good.

We know, and everyone who matters will know, that he tried his damnedist to draw them in; THEY refused.

[Richardo]

2. Read these comforting words by our President:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8199306&mesg_id=8199306

[Wetzelbill]

3. It's helped him so far to look magnanimous

He's as popular as ever and Congressional Republicans are not. As it becomes more and more apparent that Republicans are simply looking to obstruct it will free him up to be more aggressive. In the end, Republicans want him to "own" the legislation and for it to fail. As he gets more things done the better it should look for him because people will first feel better and then see veritable improvements in their lives. If this keeps up than by 2010 the GOP will get stomped and Obama will have a filibuster proof majority in the senate for sure. But right now, politically, his reaching out benefits him. I worry about it hurting policy though.

[Postman]

5. How much actual "stimulus" was cut from the latest bill to appease the a-holes?

Apparantly things aren't soo bad where as Obama sees room to play footsie with the Republicans on this first, most important piece of legislation to get regular folks working again....

I like Obama. I just wish he would cut the bipartisan crap and hand these f**kers their heads on a platter....

[Wetzelbill]

8. well yeah

You can go bipartisan and start in a better position. He started this bill small and already included tax cuts that the GOP would have asked for anyway, instead they only asked for more. He gave up some more tax cuts and got no votes in the House and then gave up even more and got 3 votes in the senate. Not worth the effort. I would have started it at 3 trillion dollars with very limited tax cuts. Then I would have allowed the House Republicans to maybe chip off half a trillion and gave them a little more in tax cuts, but they were never going to vote for it anyway, so keep that all modest. Then in the Senate, I would have allowed them to chip off about a trillion and given them the tax cuts that roughly equal what Obama was planning for the middle class anyway. So, in the end, you'd have a 1.5 trillion dollar bill, with about 300 billion in tax cuts and significant infrastructure spending. Republicans vote for it? Probably not, but then I would name it something like "The American Job Creation Eagle Soaring We All Love Apple Pie" Bill and dared the Republicans to filibuster it. No way would that happen, not with Specter and Snowe and probably Collins. They wouldn't filibuster it.

So now, Republicans could complain about the bill all they want, but it passed, so they can also still go back to their constituents and say they helped get 300 billion in tax cuts in it and cut 1.5 trillion out of it so they can pretend to be deficit hawks like they like to do. Dems would then have a good bill and still be able to say that "they wanted more" and did what they could to work with Republicans. And if I was Obama the whole time it was being whittled down and I would have been on the attack about how it couldn't be too small and we needed to spend to get things going. And he should have been out doing his thing selling the plan in town halls like he started doing. And when he signed it, he could have said, "well this is just a smaller plan, we have much more to do." Sort of like when Bush called his huge deficit busting tax cuts in 2003 "itty bitty." I'd frame everything to look like Dems are going with a big vision while Republicans are still looking for small, stale ineffectual non-answers to our problems.

[babylonsister]

10. Guess what? Obama got just about everything he wanted in the

first place. So all the drama was for nothing. He's playing their game, and seems to be a few steps ahead of everyone.



WHAT OBAMA DID....Our obsessive modern media environment — talk radio, 24/7 cable news, constant blog chatter, etc. — turns every molehill into Mt. Everest. Every bill is a cliffhanger. Every amendment is a fight for the future of the party. Every procedural vote is a referendum on the president and his entire program.

Except, you know, it's not. The fantastic amount of sturm und drang from all sides to the contrary, here's what happened with the stimulus bill. (1) Obama recommended a $775 billion package. (2) The House futzed around with it a bit. (3) The Senate futzed around a little more. (4) The final confererence report ended up within a few percent of what Obama asked for in the first place: Slightly less spending, but more front-loaded; about the same amount of tax cuts; and the addition of a tweak to the AMT, which would have happened anyway later in the year.

more...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x425651

[Lost in CT]

11. KUdos... perfect explanation of the forest for all those tree watchers. nt

[Psychic Consortium]

4. It is a brilliant strategy on Obama's part

Always give everyone the chance to do the right thing.
Always take the high road.

While at the same time giving opponents enough rope to
hang themselves. And then using tough love.

[ezgoingrl]

6. Obama is using the same tactic that I used when I

got divorced. I knew that if I went to court and I was the one who looked adversarial, the judge would not be inclined to listen to any of my arguments. So, I kept quiet during the run up to the court date, and when we went to court, I showed my ex way more respect than he deserved. It worked like a charm.

I gave him enough rope to hang himself, which he did. I was the one who was reaching out and trying to make my ex's visitation work with our daughter. It was awesome and I didn't have to say one bad thing about the situation or my ex.

This is working for Obama, too. The Republicans are running scared, they don't know what hit them. If they did, they would shut up and at least try to appear like they are trying. They're on self-destruct mode and they don't even know it!!

Hang in there. It may look like we lose some battles, but I guarantee we'll win the war.

[4lbs]

7. Well, seeing as how President Obama will likely be dealing with a few more spending bills

in the next couple of years, he'll still need to be bipartisan. The Senate too, since they'll need that magic 60 vote threshold to pass any bill that adds to the deficit.

Which means appeasing a handful of Republicans for their votes.

[Wetzelbill]

9. well probably not a handful

more like one or two, but he has to deal with Blue Dog posturing and that's probably a bigger pain.