I just finished watching Keith Olbermann and the beginning of Rachel Maddow’s show. Both of them bemoaned Obama’s push for “bi-partisanship” on the stimulus package, and both they and their guests feel the Democrats are being played by the Republicans. That may all turn out to be true, but let me propose an alternative theory.
First, let’s start out with some basic propositions.
- Obama is a brilliant man, who ran a brilliant political campaign. He is as politically astute as they come.
- It is extremely unlikely that Obama expected anything but the reaction he has gotten from the Republicans.
If one accepts those two propositions, it follows that Obama is looking two or three moves ahead in all of this. Or, to employ another metaphor, he is giving the Republicans plenty of rope, and they may be proceeding to hang themselves. Recall how Clinton made the Republicans look when they shut down the government back in 1994. I have a tough time believing that Obama ever expected substantial Republican support, but I do believe he may be in a position to pick off the few remaining non-Southerners, and he is in a great position to make the rest of them look like the obstructionists that they are. When he springs the trap, they will find themselves even more isolated and even more marginalized than they are right now, and he can say that he made every effort to bring them in to the process.
Of course, I could be wrong about all this. We’ll see.
UPDATE: This may be the canary in the coal mine. If Obama caves on the family planning provision, then it’s almost a sure thing that he’s bought into a hopeless quest for bi-partisanship. It is precisely on those portions of the plan that have been most distorted by the Republicans that he should stand firm.
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