Romney Lashes Out at Obama for Lack of Bipartisanship

I discussed the utter failure of partisanship in an earlier post, and what I said there still stands. I just wanted to add another loon to the mix. Mitt Romney today put out a statement from his PAC stating that,

"America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation - rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends."

I agree that Obama did not get this bill passed with broad, or even tangible, bipartisan support. But it certainly is not from a lack of trying. Obama was praising Chuck Grassley last summer, hoping to get the influential Iowa senator's support for a bipartisan healthcare bill. How did Grassley return the favor? He told his constituents that the healthcare bill would "pull the plug on Grandma." Other significant acts indicating that the Republicans did not want to play ball? They wouldn't shut up about Obama's birthplace and they interrupted the State of the Union to berate the president (incorrectly). Even RNC head Michael Steele described his role in the health debate this way: "Well, I'm the cow on the tracks, and you're going to have to stop that train to get this cow off the tracks and move forward." More recently, however, the Republicans have shown a disdain for working with Democrats on bills and have resorted to yelling like toddlers not getting their way in the halls of Congress (baby killer, really?).

I understand Romney's got books to sell. I understand he sees himself as the front-runner in 2012. I get that a lot of Republicans hate him because they think he's fake or his Morminism is foreign, and thus something to fear, to them. But there's no reason to grandstand like this on a non-issue. Obama tried (too long in my opinion) to play nice with the Republicans, knowing full well he could ram this much-needed legislation down the throats of the right if he wanted to. The Republican response was anything but productive, so Obama worked within his own party and got done what he needed to get done. It's not that Obama abused his power, it's that his opposition didn't show up to play the game.

Photo - The RNC's willingness to work in a bipartisan manner on display (GOP.com)