The End of Bipartisanship

Is It Time for Democrats to Declare War on the GOP?

Steffen Schmidt

President Obama was in Michigan in mid-July 2009 to announce a new national community college expansion initiative in a state that has over 14% unemployment and a collapsing auto industry. A Detroit paper called Obama’s economic policy a "failed experiment." According to the Washington Post “Before Obama's arrival in Michigan, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) issued a statement that said Democratic economic policies "will strangle even more small businesses and destroy millions more jobs. That's not what middle-class families want -- in Michigan or anywhere else in America."

Obama said the equivalent of “bring it on” to the GOP critics and pointed out that it was eight years of Bush/Cheney and the GOP in control of Congress that could be blamed for the mess in which the economy finds itself. (He actually said “"I love these folks who get us in this mess and then suddenly say it's Obama's economy," he said. “ That's fine. Give it to me. I welcome the job," - Washington Post.)

Republican strategists and all of the GOP contenders for 2012 have concluded that there is no room for bipartisanship on the economy or any other issue. In their calculus the economy is an integral part of partisan politics, the opposition party has the responsibility to offer sharp alternatives from the git go and the idea of a “loyal opposition” is bunk.

The Democrats, giddy from the 2008 victories have more or less chosen to just ignore the Republicans and push through legislation with or without GOP support, which their majorities in the House and Senate can now do.

The public is still confused about why there is an economic crisis so the GOP strategy to label the problems “Obama’s Recession” is a good strategy because without a counterattack it will stick and could produce results in 2010 and certainly pose a big threat to the democrats in 2012.

So I’ve been talking to many friends, colleagues, and former students in both parties on how the public will assess the economic crisis and the job loss/unemployment disaster in which the country finds itself.
Basically the results are as follows.

Very few Republicans will buy into the Democratic legislative arena and even fewer will jump on ANY Obama administration initiatives in either domestic or foreign policy.

Republicans actually say they DO want bipartisanship. The GOP definition of “bipartisanship” must be “ya’ll Democrats change any policy that comes up and make it look more like a Republican policy.” One strategist told me that anything else would be largely rejected except for a few “… rogue Republicans who will go AWOL on us.”
So what should the Democrats do? Play nice and ignore the Republicans? Take off their gloves and go on a full bore offensive to make the economic crisis stick to Bush, Cheney, and the GOP? Attack on some issues and play nice on others?

One academic colleague averred, “There is almost no room for bipartisanship. Actually, the Dems don’t want it any more than the Repubs. By letting the GOP control the strategic high ground of blame, in a military sense, the Democrats are taking chances. The risk is that the public will buy the GOP story and blame the recession and all the economic scandals on the Dems.”

Her advice (which she’s selling for a lot of money as a consultant but I offer you for free!) is for every Democrat at the national as well as state and local level to start calling it the “Bush/Cheney Recession” at every opportune moment whenever they talk about jobs and the economy. She feels strongly that the 2006 and 2008 victories are acting as “tranquilizers, Political Valium if you will” (her terms not mine) and has made them complacent and sure the public will continue to vote Democrat in 2010 and 2012.

She added, “Obama is making a big mistake in being so ‘nice’ and not running with scissors. The Democratic Party needs to go on a big offensive. It’s no different from what Republicans are saying about how Obama is approaching Iran, North Korea, and other foreign policy crises. Nice don’t work!”

Indeed when I polled over 300 of my students a vast majority had no idea on how to assess the economic crisis and the bleak job picture for college students. They also seemed not to know whom to blame. That means their minds were malleable mush (to borrow a phrase from the rotund one) and I certainly buy the GOP assessment that if they have a unified message – “Obama is wrong.” “Look what he has done to our economy.” The Obama recession has cost you your job.” “It’s time for “smart change.”
I believe that public opinion can in fact be reshaped between now and November of 2010. The economic crisis took about 20 years of loosy-goosy policy, unethical and even a great deal of criminal activity by corporations and by government officials at all levels. The number of scandals is huge and Teapot Dome* no longer means anything in the wake of the highway robbery that’s been taking place.

So I think the overall results of my research can be summarized as “Let the partisan wars begin.” The Health care legislation Congress is currently debating and voting on is the best proof that there is NO bipartisanship. The Senate committee voting on the bill did so 13 to 10 on a strict party line vote.

Oh by the way, the democrats won the elections in 2006 and 2008 so they are now the majority party in government. As we all learned in civics class the majority rules in the United States. The GOP certainly did so in the eight years of Bush and the 12 that they controlled the House and Senate.

* The Teapot Dome Scandal refers to a bribery scandal during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Teapot Dome is an oil field on public land Wyoming. I am a professor so I believe I must educate and footnote.

Steffen Schmidt is a University Professor of political science at Iowa State University and lead author of the country's most widely adopted introductory college textbook, "American Government and Politics Today" (17th Edition, Wadsworth Publishing). He provides weekly political analysis for Iowa Public Radio, and periodically in Spanish for CNN en Español. He is chief political and foreign correspondent for insideriowa.com.