The honeymoon that ended before it began

[kentuck]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28865349/

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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is launching his first diplomatic mission.

It’s not overseas; it’s local, 1.6 miles east of the White House. The president is heading to the U.S. Capitol to meet privately first with House, then Senate, Republicans.

Did he have to make the trip? Not really. At the very least he could have insisted that the GOP members come “downtown.” Does he need GOP votes to pass his economic recovery plan? Probably not many: maybe four or five in the Senate if there is a filibuster.

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It won’t be easy. It may not even be possible. I have been struck so far by the LACK of bipartisan goodwill on both sides. It’s only a week into the Obama presidency and things quickly seem to be degenerating into the same old, same old spats and thrusts.

In terms of tone, no one is blameless. Democrats, enjoying their largest majorities in decades, generally are in a my-way-or the-highway mood.

Republicans, in a defensive crouch, are without well-known elected leaders, leaving Rush Limbaugh with his Golden Microphone as the loudest and most famous voice.

Fizz-less Inside the Beltway
Even though the country is behind Obama as he starts — he has the highest approval ratings on record — the sense Inside the Beltway is rather fizz-less. There are a number of reasons. Obama essentially started governing the economy weeks ago, so his “honeymoon’ was over — at least among the political and chattering classes here in Washington — before he was even inaugurated.

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