Word: bipartisanship
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...thinking went. But, by the time the bill cleared the Senate with the minimum 60 votes last Friday night, at least some members of the Obama camp were wondering where all the bipartisanship had gone. Not a single House Republican had voted for the bill. It barely cleared the Senate, where only two weeks before some in the administration thought it might garner 80 votes...
...surprised that it happened this way? It’s not every day that circumstances allow you to co-opt your opposition. The New Deal and the Great Society were not bipartisan initiatives. Look at it from the Republicans’ point of view. What do they gain from bipartisanship? If Obama successfully builds bipartisan support for his agenda, who gets the credit? John Boehner and Mitch McConnell...
...Republicans voted for the House bill, and the meager GOP support in the Senate - just those three votes - prompted Republican complaints that the Dems were not living up to Obama's campaign promise of bipartisanship. But in voting en masse against the bill, the GOP is making a risky long-term bet, said Clyde Wilcox, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "The GOP is gambling here that the stimulus does not work, and they can make big gains in 2010. Given the sticky economy, that is certainly a possibility," Wilcox said. "But all it took for Ronald Reagan...
...high-minded talk of bipartisanship and common purpose, Barack Obama was always aware that Republicans in Congress weren't going to simply set aside their philosophical differences and embrace the new President's ambitious agenda. But he had reason to hope that Democrats on Capitol Hill, while not going along with everything, would at least give him a honeymoon period. So it must be a bit of a jolt these days for Obama to frequently find himself so out of step with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose tacit support of Obama's campaign was felt long before her endorsement...
Some of the friction could just be cosmetic to appease both the progressive base and moderates. "It's the old routine of bad cop (Pelosi), good cop (Obama); partisanship vs. bipartisanship," says Stephen Wayne, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "It is also a bargaining tool to limit what the Republicans can expect from the legislation in exchange for their support...