Stop Playing Nice, Mr. President
Why liberals are increasingly frustrated with Obama's efforts at bipartisanship.
Ryan spoke of the need to compromise in the grand budget negotiations to come. He said he didn't want to be doctrinaire:"If you're getting an inch take the inch, even if you're not getting a mile." He also chuckled at the idea of refusing to increase the debt ceiling, something the RNC chairman and some in the Tea Party support. But even if he feels as though he's being reasonable, he's not likely to look that way to Obama's supporters. If he and GOP leaders can't accept a speck of responsibility for the lack of cooperation, then maybe Obama's liberal critics are right. Any deal with these guys is a trap.
Update, Dec. 2, 2010: The comments from Strickland were added after this article was originally published. (Return to the updated sentence.)
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John Dickerson is Slate's chief political correspondent and author of On Her Trail. He can be reached at slatepolitics@gmail.com. Read his series on the presidency and his series on risk. Follow him on Twitter.
Photograph courtesy of the congressional office of Paul Ryan.