Bi-partisan to Republicans means Democratic Surrender

When Republicans talk about bi-partisanship they mean that Democrats should surrender. When Democrats talk about bi-partisanship, they mean compromise and trying to find a common solution. That difference is why, until recently, Democrats were getting rolled in Washington.

Here's what would happen: Republicans would pass a bill in the House much different than one passed in the Senate. Then, in conference committee, Republicans would re-write the bill to suit their conservative supporters and, when it got back to the Senate, "red-state" Democrats would be pressured to support it, and it would pass. This was exactly how Republicans managed to pass their reckless tax cuts that have led to huge deficits replacing the surpluses of the Clinton years.

It took about four years for Democrats to wake up and become an opposition party. It really happened when Bush proposed Social Security privatization. Try as they might, the GOP just couldn't find any Democrats willing to support that idea. Without some Democratic "cover", moderate Republicans weren't going to stick their necks out, and so the bill died. They same thing was recently seen with the John Bolton nomination. When Chafee(R-RI), who is in a very tough race, decided to stop supporting Bolton, the vote on the nomination was canceled in the Foreign Relations committee.

More than anything else, the idea that Democrats should become an opposition party is what defeated Lieberman in the August primary. Grassroot Democrats want their party to oppose Bush because they believe that opposition to Bush is necessary for America. Grassroot Democrats don't want their party to compromise on vital Democratic principles. Grassroot Democrats want the same thing as grassroot Republicans, a party that stands for something.

All of this is troubling to Democrats like Lieberman and to some in the media. They decry Democratic opposition to Bush as being the result of something called "Bush hatred." They demand that Democrats compromise their principles so that "things can get done" and "gridlock" avoided. (Interestingly enough, though, they don't demand that Republicans compromise, just Democrats.)

Well, the days when the grassroots of the Democratic Party allowed Democratic politicians to compromise Democratic values in the name of "efficiency" are over. After all, it really doesn't matter if you are "getting things done" if, in the process, you are losing your political soul.
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