I would simply add that Obama’s first priority is to lead this country out of the considerable mess he inherited, and that any bipartisanship is secondary to that. But to answer the original post, he IS keeping both his campaign promises: launching a progressive agenda AND extending his hand across the aisle. Republicans have repeatedly slapped that hand away (even after concessions were made to make them happy). Bipartisanship requires the participation of BOTH parties. Just because the GOP has declined to play the game doesn’t mean the game does not go on – there are plenty of players to ensure that we move forward. The GOP is like a pack of 3-year-olds who pout, “If we can’t do it my way then I won’t play!” and take their toys and go home. Fine with me – let the rest of us get to work – we don’t need them!

Republicans seem to think the definition of bipartisan is “Democrats roll over and keep doing things the GWB way.” (Of course, the word bipartisan was only recently forced into their vocabulary by the presidential election, so I suppose we must forgive them for their thick-headedness. It is admittedly a completely foreign concept to them, and as they continue to demonstrate: anything other than the status quo is deeply offensive and scary to them.)