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... and EVERYTHING to do with the American electorate.
We forget that political junkies like ourselves are in the minority in this country. MOST people do not get their rocks off watching political debate. MOST voters dont want to see the Democrats stomp on the Republicans or vice versa.
MOST Americans want members of Congress to put their partisan BS aside and make this country better.
THAT is who his message is directed toward, not to us. Sure, WE would all love for him to have swooped into town as a progressive savior and completely moved the legislative direction of this country to the left. But we are not the entire country and he cannot be elected or get his legislation passed with us alone. (This is especially true since we spend most of our time arguing with one another and less of it holding CONGRESS' feet to the fire like the teabaggers are doing.)
You will notice that ALL of his press interviews are done with the major networks, not with the cable networks. The Obama campaign realized that the bulk of the electorate doesn't sit glued to cable news like we do (this is also why you'll hear him casually brush off cable news "noise" from time to time.) MOST Americans watch the network programs and that's it. You'll remember when CNN/Fox/MSNBC was airing ALL of Palin's speeches in the fall of '08, the Obama campaign put up only a symbolic protest and, instead, focused on local events in key states that would be carried by the local 6pm news.
And they won.
I also think he has a genuine desire to see disagreements worked out by all sides coming to the table, everyone giving some of what they want so that everyone will get some of what they want. "Audacity" is replete with examples of this philosophy.
But I think the notion of bipartisanship is one of the most misunderstood concepts here at DU (in regard to the admin's handling of it.) But his still high personal favorability numbers are the fruit of this philosophy and I fear that those who are upset or bothered by his desire for bipartisanship are going to be upset and bothered for a long time to come.
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