Even the stimulus couldn’t rouse Republicans “into any human feeling,” writes Derrick Jackson of the Boston Globe. “With the collective livelihood of America at stake,” Republicans opted for full-blown obstinacy, crying about the deficit while conveniently forgetting that their president had turned a $128 billion surplus into a $1.2 trillion deficit. It’s a dumb strategy, one that’s only “extending Obama’s honeymoon.”
Just 5% of Americans think Bush made economic progress—that 5% most likely consisting of a few Wall Street CEOs, Matt Cassel, and CC Sabathia. Knowing that, Obama could have just run Republicans over, but instead got out of his motorcade and tried bipartisanship. “Republicans responded…by throwing nails in front of it.” If that’s all they have to offer, Americans will swiftly show them the door. (More Republicans stories.)