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Don't Give Up on Bipartisanship, Barack

President needs GOP for his ambitious agenda, says Broder

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 19, 2009 8:41 AM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama came into the White House pledging bipartisanship, but one month in, pundits are telling the president to forget compromise and "get real." Don't listen, writes David S. Broder in the Washington Post, who calls those recommendations "the worst advice he has received." Not only has bipartisanship served past presidents well, it's also critical for Obama's future battles on health care, energy, and immigration.

While Obama struck out in the House, it was only by wooing three Republican senators that the stimulus passed at all. And soon Obama will introduce programs that many Dems fear; he'll need the support of other GOP leaders: Bob Bennett for health, Dick Lugar for foreign affairs, and, yes, John McCain for immigration reform. "To throw all this away out of frustration with what happened on the stimulus bill," writes Broder, "would be insane."

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Barack Obama speaks at the Bipartisan meeting of the National Governor's Association at Congress Hall, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

In this Oct. 15, 2008 file photo, Barack Obama greets John McCain at the start of the presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds/FILE)

Barack Obama meets with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at Obama's transition office in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Olympia Snowe, left, and Susan Collins, Maine's two Republican senators, who broke with party leadership in efforts to forge a compromise on President Barack Obama's economic recovery legislation. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, center, talks about the agreement on the $789 billion economic stimulus measure, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama signs into law the State Children's Health Insurance Program in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

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Does anyone really think Obama would be well advised to put immigration before Congress without having a long, serious conversation with John McCain? Passage would be a heavy lift. But at least it would have a chance. - David S. Broder

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Don't Give Up on Bipartisanship, Barack