'A Sharply Partisan Era'

Allow me to agree with Jay Cost, over at RealClearPolitics:

Many thought Barack Obama would at least try. His writing reflects an understanding of "genuine bipartisanship." His campaign implied he wanted to give it a go. Yet his press secretary suggests that his opponents are in a shadowy cabal. This is right out of Hillary Clinton's playbook, the candidate who was offering "more of the same," which we could "no longer afford."

I am worried. Not because I am enamored of bipartisanship. I like Ike - but I like "Give 'em Hell" Harry, too. I have no problem with the sharp elbows approach, even coming from the White House. I am worried because I thought partisan reconciliation was an animating force of Obama's candidacy, a big reason why he thought he - rather than one of the 306 million other Americans - should be President. I am worried that, amidst a credit crisis, two wars, and a lack of confidence in our nation's institutions, we have installed as President a man apparently willing to abandon a foundational premise of his candidacy not three months into his tenure.