Democratic Party

The Myth of Bipartisanship

Steve Pearlstein:

After all, if the only things the party in power can accomplish are those that the minority power can agree with, then what is the point of having an election? No matter which side won a majority, "common ground" -- the things they all agree on -- would still be the same.

America is all about the parties not getting along, but with enough swing votes to govern. But "bipartisanship" polls very, very well. Where I think the Obama "bipartisanship" idea is misguided is that they're mistaking what people like to hear with how Washington should actually function.

Meanwhile, the ruling party should do its thing, and make a big effective case for it. The problem with the Democrats is that they're kinda doing their thing while being timid about making a case for it. It's infuriating because their are very obvious cases to be made for the stimulus, healthcare, energy and so on. Cases that would convince even some wingnuts.

Ultimately, I blame the ideology polls that show more conservatives than liberals. These stats are mistakenly taken at face value -- but, issue by issue, Americans are far more liberal than they admit. But because the word "liberal" has been stigmatized for 40 years, many Americans don't want to label themselves as such. If the congressional Democrats understood this, they wouldn't be so flummoxed about selling liberal policies.