Barack Obama’s speech about everyone being part of the United States rather than being part of red or blue states sounds wonderful in theory. The reality is Americans do hold different values depending on their geography and history. Southern states have been more rural. Central California farming valleys and farming plains states have different perspectives than Jamaica, New York, South Chicago, or San Jose, California.
The President did try to reach out to Republicans during his first two weeks in office. Unfortunately the Republican response was “no we will not compromise.” That decision by the GOP has left only one path for our new President. He will have to play the partisan game. That means finding a few Republican Senators that understand the meaning of compromise and working to ensure solidarity among the Dems. Rahm Emanuel, the president’s Chief of Staff, is known as a hardball player from his days as a Congressman. He will undoubtedly lead the process for keeping all Democrats in line. David Axelrod, Obama’s cool campaign co-ordinator, will probably be the nice guy to bring in the needed Republicans. So much for “We are all part of the United States.”
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