Barack Obama won the U.S. Presidency in 2008 because he was a cheerleader for what Americans have wanted for a very long time, an end to political gridlock.  We embraced this young visionary leader who wanted to put an end to governance according to the counter-productive strategy of red and blue states competition. With this lame philosophy of red and blue states, absolutely nothing ever gets accomplished.  Well, nothing positive gets accomplished, but the divisiveness of red and blue states competition has become a profitable product line.

For some, an end to 51 to 49 percent politics just might not be good for business.  People like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will find it more difficult to meet their projected profit margins since more people will choose to turn them off. Why do you think Rush is so upset these days?  People working together upsets the apple cart. But worrying about Limbaugh and Hannity pales in comparison to the havoc that will be perpetrated by the party out of power, the GOP.  They will use whatever gimmickry they deem necessary in their effort to return to power.

Almost to the point of arrogance, Republicans have not been shy about their desire for President Obama to fail.  Even though the country is burned out on long campaigns, and even though President Obama has been in office less than a month, the GOP 2012 quest for the presidency is in full gear.  Their desire to winin 2012, trumps the economy being in the tank, high unemployment, the War in Iraq, a chicken in every pot, it trumps everything. Is it for the good of the country, as in country first? What do you think? 

So President Obama shouldn't be terribly surprised when he cannot muster significant Republican support for legislation that might reverse the downward spiral the country is experiencing right now.  Nevertheless, it still boggles my mind to think that we have politicians like Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky fighting to keep the status quo and the misery manufactured by the party in power the prior eight years.  Well, Mr. McConnell, the majority of the United States including your neighboring state of North Carolina, voted for change even if most in your home state did not.  We also voted for President Obama to spearhead that change.  We did not vote for more of the same. 

President Obama deserves credit for trying to build bipartisan support.  It's a great commonsense approach and it would yield widespread benefits. However, often when major change occurs, dinosaurs tend to insist that it is just a fad and stubbornly try to stand in the way of progress.  They simply cannot or refuse to adjust to reality and a sizable percent of them, simply get left behind. I imagine that is what will happen to a lot of Republicans when they run for re-election in the mid-term.  They will simply get left behind, because the rest of us are moving on.