From the campaign on, President Obama has made it clear that he is committed to working with Republicans to accomplish the urgent business that is confronting him in the first days of his administration. He has appointed Republicans to his cabinet, he has held out olive branch after olive branch to Senators McCain, Lieberman, and others, and when his intended appointment of Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary cratered, he appointed Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, going so far as to agree to a deal that would have required the governor of New Hampshire to appoint a Republican to the vacated seat.
Now let's look at the Republican side: After the President went to Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans about the stimulus plan, Senator Graham (R-NC) declared him "AWOL" on the discussion. Even before that meeting, House Minority Leader Boehner instructed GOP Representatives to vote against the bill no matter what the President said, and they did.
Now Senator Gregg has withdrawn the bid that he initiated to be Commerce Secretary, citing "irreconcilable differences" with the President he asked to serve. Put this together with Rush Limbaugh's wish that the President fail and Republicans' constant sniping at the President's efforts on the economy, and it's hard to escape the suspicion that the GOP leadership is out to sabotage this Administration.
Where's the bi-partisanship? All on the White House's side, it seems. Maybe it's time for the President to just move on.
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