More on unilateral bipartisanship from Ezra Klein:
The White House just released a letter (pdf) pledging to move forward with health-care reform and include some of the Republican proposals offered at the Blair House Summit.
… [I]f we were dealing with an actual negotiation in which both sides agreed that we should have a bill ensuring near-universal coverage at no cost to the deficit, it might be enough. But that’s not the negotiation we’re in. Instead, as Lamar Alexander said, Republicans have “come to the conclusion that we don’t do comprehensive well.” And the president is compromising on that point.
And for this the president can count on exactly how many more Republican votes than he’d get without compromise?
For the record, Obama is being characteristically true to himself (as we’ve come to learn). His brand of post-partisan, community organizing jujitsu may deliver health reform. Any other rewards it promises likely won’t be delivered in this political life. It takes a special discipline to compromise with yourself. Isn’t it hard to know when to stop?
