January, 2010
Obama's Struggle for Bipartisanship
Micah Lutkowitz
Despite being the most liberal senator at the time of the 2008 election, Barack Obama campaigned on a platform of bipartisanship and changing politics in Washington. Obama promised to bring Republicans into his Cabinet and to “reach across the aisle” on issues such as energy and health care. For all of the flowery rhetoric he used during the campaign, Obama has failed to govern with the same level of bipartisanship that he promised.
It is very understandable why Obama campaigned on the notion of bipartisanship. Many Americans, including independents, support the idea that politicians- regardless of party affiliation- should cooperate with the opposing party in order to rectify America's problems. However, “bipartisanship” is a relative term that is subject to many different interpretations. Bipartisanship, in some cases, can be very dangerous because it often requires one or both parties to compromise. If the Republicans had compromised their position on Iraq during the Bush Administration in an attempt to appear “bipartisan,” Iraq would still be an unstable country where violence is commonplace. Instead, the Republicans stood behind their principles and backed the Surge, a strategy that brought stability to the war-torn country.
Obama has been forced to redefine what it means to be “bipartisan” in attempt to build rapport with the American people. While campaining, Obama hailed his co-sponsorship of a Nonproliferation Law with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) as a bipartisan achievement. The Obama campaign, of course, never mentioned that nuclear proliferation is not a controversial issue or that “reaching across the aisle” or concessions were unnecessary for this particular bill to be passed, due to the widespread consensus that nuclear proliferation is undesirable. The Obama Administration stretched the “bipartisan” definition even farther when it claimed that the passage of the Stimulus Bill was a bipartisan effort. Once again, Obama's team neglected pertinent information: the Stimulus Bill received no House Republican support and measly Senate Republican support from two Maine senators and from a senator who is now a Democrat (Arlen Specter). Obama recently demonstrated the Administration's desperation when he labeled the Health Care Bill coming from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee as “bipartisan.” Although no Republicans on the Senate committee voted for the Health Care Bill, Obama considers the bill “bipartisan” because Republican amendments were added to the bill. The reality is that every major Republican amendment to the bill was thwarted by a party-line vote from the Democrats.
President Obama has made it clear that he is willing to change the definition of the word “bipartisan” in any way that is politically expedient. Although bipartisanship is an idea that resonates with many people, Americans ought to be wary of how politicians utilize the word “bipartisan.”