Bipartisanship Is Broken Despite Obama's Efforts, but There's Hope

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to join together to tackle some of America's worsening problems {yeah like that's ever going to happen!} in today's hyperpartisan charged atmosphere
bipartisanship is a joke in Washington - the key word being BI as in a broken TWO party system which has a stranglehold on current Federal elections & politics
however the latest polling shows 35% Democrats - 32% Republicans - 33% INDEPENDENTS
{and if you don't agree with these figures do your OWN research!}
anyway taking a closer look at the percentage of Independents {who no longer desire to be associated with EITHER major party} you will find that most are pretty much MODERATES -- so IF you add in say the 5% of {Conservative}or Moderate/Blue Dog Democrats AND 2% {Liberal}or Moderate Republicans = that adds up to 40% MODERATE INDEPENDENTS - 30% LIBERAL Democrats - 30% CONSERVATIVE Republicans
leaving the majority of Americans with NO clear voice or true representation of THEIR ideas & platform . . . save for the handful of CENTRIST Congressmen/women from BOTH sides of the aisle!! who are routinely shunned & ostracized by their own parties in an attempt to marginalize what they stand for = WHAT WE MODERATES STAND FOR . . . what the MAJORITY of Americans believe in
sure President Obama talks a good game - BUT when one is NOT truly a CENTRIST at heart - the message is CLEARLY heard for what it is AND isn't . . . pretending to reach across party lines while ignoring the voices of the more moderate members of his OWN party speaks volumes
when will Americans FINALLY wake up & stand up AND realize that a THIRD choice is needed -- the Independent Moderate Party
check out the NEW growing movement of NONpartisanship at
http://coffeepartyusa.com/
coming TOGETHER in an effort to make America a better place for EVERYONE regardless of political party affiliation

tiger lily of DC 3:08AM March 04, 2010

One small step for the "other party" folloewed by WHO & WHAT? Let's us just say the words MIKE & HUCKABEE TO start. We saw what the word BROWN COULD DO TO CHANGE THE COMPLETE FOCUS OVERNIGHT. If you caught the combination of Huckabee and Obama did with homest polite FIRM cooperation for the cause of "obese young". This was Michelle and Mike at th VERY BEST of two reasonable Americans joined in a common cause. Hey let that be an example for us to follow on combining the best instead of the worst. NO, don't dissagree when the other side has it's honest good points and don't agree when you think they are just wrong, but wasn't that enterview refresing.?. Now remember the name MIKE HUCKABEE and the word PRESIDENT.

Jack Gourley of NC 9:29AM February 23, 2010

The problem is really a lack of tripartisanship, the third leg being the people.
Republicans and Democrats agree on catering to lobbyists, waste, earmarks, comprehensive immigration reform, big spending, Orwellian surveillance and illegal monitoring of our communications, etc., but the people are obstructionist on many of these policies.
Take comprehensive immigration reform, for ex. The Republicans want it to bring in millions of cheap workers for cronies, and the Democrats want it so they can rig future elections by putting illegal aliens on a path to citizenship. The people, on the other hand, are obstructionist because they don't want millions of illegals taking their jobs, and many American citizens are patriotic and democratic and resent a massive invasion used to fix elections for the Democrats. As de Tocqueville noted: "I have heard of patriotism in the United States, and I have found true patriotism among the people, but never among the leaders of the people."

Luther of LA 2:41AM February 23, 2010

Seriously, anything that hasn't been done in the past year lies solely on the Democrats not being in unison on Obama's radical agenda. The Republicans haven't been able to do much because they don't have the numbers. Thank God enough Democrats have the honor and integrity not to let all this crap get through! But if I was in the Democratic Leadership Council, I would have spun it the same way.

Jeannie in FL of FL 4:30PM February 22, 2010

I think it's more basic than your analysis portrays.
When each party was in the minority status, they felt so screwed-over by the other party that when they grabbed power, they simply wanted their adversaries to get a taste of their own medicine.
They want to give, worse than they got. And it's snowballing.
I know firsthand that payback was a big part of the Republican mindset after '94. I was there, in Washington, at the RNC in '95.
In particular, this "payback" mentality had to do with political gerrymandering. While racial gerrymandering is rightfully illegal, political gerrymandering is perfectly legal - politicians wanted it so, and so it was.
THAT is why the party in power, tended to stay in power. It took a long time for demographics changes to overcome political gerrymandering. After every census, lines were redrawn by state legislatures to the benefit of their own party's congressional delegation. Period.
I can't imagine that payback wasn't a big part of the Democrat mindset after '06. It shows. They were blatantly shut out of the process by the GOP, and they've done the same (and worse) to Republicans for it.
So if the GOP takes over again after November, the Democrats can expect to be rudely shut out of the governing process in a classic game of one-upsmanship.
The matter is really, who is going to control the majority of (especially large state) state legislatures, that will gerrymander Congress into power? And how fast and dramatically will our increasingly mobile society alter the effectiveness of those redrawn districts?

Rich of CO 1:02PM February 22, 2010