A Curious Sort of Bipartisanship

2 interesting excerpts from liberal, Obama supporting econblogger Mark Thoma:

[D]uring a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation. While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Obama loyalists were quick to express their frustration with Lieberman's decision and warned that if he continues to take a lead role in attacking Obama it could complicate his professional relationship with the Caucus.

From another article:

Barack Obama’s solution to dealing with members of Congress who don’t pass his health care plan? “Whup them.”

At a town hall meeting on health care at Virginia High School, a 95-year-old voter gave the expected nominee a maple walking stick he had carved himself with the intention of giving it to Obama.

Obama thanked the man and then, admiring his new gift, said “If members of Congress don’t pass my health care plan, I’ll whup them, I’ll whup them. That’s right, don’t mess with me, I’ll have my stick.” ...

For some contrast, this is from an Obama speech in Iowa:

You spoke of a future where the politics we have in Washington finally reflect the values we hold as Americans – the values you live by here in Iowa: common sense and honesty; generosity and compassion; decency and responsibility. These values don't belong to one class or one region or even one party – they are the values that bind us together as one country.

Many of you have been disappointed by politics and politicians more times than you can count. You've seen promises broken and good ideas drown in the sea of influence, and point-scoring, and petty bickering that has consumed Washington.

Obama has a very thin record, so we have to look very closely at the things he has actually done. Obama has promised us bipartisanship, yet in the first two quotes shows the sort of intimidating tactics that made me ashamed to be a Republican during the DeLay years. The fact is, talk is cheap. George Bush ran for president in 2000 promising to be a uniter-- just like Obama. The key difference is that Bush had had many years of experience as governor of Texas really bringing the state Democrats into the fold (something his successor has been fairly bad at), while Obama has a few feel-good measures that he cosponsored with Republicans. His record shows that Obama is thoroughly bipartisan when it is easy to do so, like his famous open government bill. The real question is, will he be nearly that open and caring when it comes time to deal with health care, pensions, and whatever hot-button issues pop up in the next four years? These two actions may be flukes or they may be indicative of a larger pattern, but either way they are not good omens for the unity of an Obama presidency.

Interestingly, I believe that Dr. Thoma's purpose in his post was to convey that Obama is not a pushover and will fight hard for his agenda. While there is a fine line between compromise and capitulation, I don't think these quotes show a candidate flittering anywhere near it, or even within the realm of compromise at all.

Obama is such an empty suit that we need to know he is good for doing what few things he says he will do. After all, who was it that said "I realize that politicians come before you every election saying that they'll change all this. They lay out big plans and hold events with workers just like this one, because it's popular to do and it's easy to make promises in the heat of a campaign"? Oh yes, Obama. I will be on the lookout for more incidents like this.