Obama: The New Face of the GOP!

Well, not really, but you'd think so if this latest report from UFWAW and Politico is accurate.

Remember that big ole nasty partisan verbal fisticuffs that happened last week, as a unanimous front of Republican House members voted against the stimulus bill? And then Obama came out and wagged his finger at their Limbaughian and counter-productive ways? And now people are reporting on the same thing happening in the Senate behind the wiliest old curmudgeon in Congress, John "McClane" McCain?

What a lot of people don't realize is that there were several Blue Dog Democrats — fiscally conservative fans of Blues Clues — who also opposed the bill by vote. But you wouldn't think that Obama would encourage some Democrats to vote against his own bill would you?

If you said you would, you a lie.

The Tennessee Blue Dog Jim Cooper went on some radio show and admitted that people in the Obama camp actually encouraged him to vote against party lines and go against the stimulus bill. To vote against the bill that Obama has toured second grade classrooms to push. To vote against the only bill that will make or break his opening days, possibly the entirety of his tenure. To vote against the stimulus bill.

Apparently, Obama understands that partisanship goes both ways.

Knowing that Pelosi and Reid are the voice of the Left — frankly, indomitable at this point — and that in order to manifest this bipartisan family funfest upon which he has so elegantly waxed, he must have some Blues mixing with the Reds, not just the other way around.

Ever the shrewd politician, Obama may have just made one of the most awkwardly awesome political moves of all time.

But is it admirable to get people to vote against your own bill that you hope saves America from standing in the breadlines, or condemnable?

I don't know. On the one hand, if you're a political observer it has to be a sign of actual change coming to Washington, something that admittedly sounds like a lot of hot air that has been blown for centuries, but can be remarkably moving if it is as true to form as Obama would say it is.

But on the other hand, it's a bit fraudulent. Pushing or feigning bipartisanship isn't bipartisanship. Cooper rightly assessed that it seemed there was no room for bipartisan politics in the House, partly on the fault of the hounds, Pelosi and Reid, and maybe Obama was just hurrying the process along. But still, this isn't bipartisanship.

Plus, if you're an idealist, this has to be deafening, that the person responsible for this bill doesn't care about unanimity (as if that were a necessary fault).

So I guess the jury is out, and will probably be left up the the court of popular appeal. On the bright side, and this I believe is irrefutable, this shows that Obama seems to be walking the walk that his bipartisan talk mandated.

UPDATE: Well, of course, as I'm writing this, Cooper backtracks saying that while he had concerns, the Obama camp "convinced him" and reassured him that voting for the stimulus would not offend his conservative senses. Ben Smith is now reporting that while Cooper's aides are saying he didn't, Obama's aides claim that a statement will be released from the Congressman. I forget who is speaking for who here, but it's obvious that Cooper has lost any and all credibility with Obamanation.