Remember Hillary Clinton saying this about Obama? "The sky will open. The lights will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect!" Alexander Mooney did an analysis on CNN of Obama's grade for bipartisanship and points to these words from Hillary Clinton as being prophetic.
When Obama was attacking Hillary for being part of the 'same 'ole Washington scene he was maintaining that he was "change" and that he would bring bi-partisanship to Washington. Yet, when Obama gave the responsibility of writing the House version of the Stimulus to Pelosi, hope of bi-partisanship took a nose-dive with "we won" and noticeable lack of any initial republican input on the bill.
So with tonight's joint address to both Houses, there will be further evidence of Obama's failure to bring together the great ideological divide in this nation, for Obama will do a lot of finger-pointing when it comes to reporting on the "health" of the Nation.
Mooney also states in his analysis a comparsion of Bill Clinton's theme of less government, and Obama's proclamation of a healthy return to "Big Government". Here we see the divide, the same 'ole Washington, and more of a similarity between Bush and Obama.
So the question remains: Is Obama simply naive in working with Washington? Probably so as Hillary Clinton pointed out not too long ago. It is a matter of experience dealing with the harsh realities of Washington. Clinton knew it was a city that reflected a country with a political culture and media that seem to emotionally and financially thrive on demonization, controversy and polarization.
