Reply #136: I will give him this much benefit-of-the-doubt, though: [View All]

I don't think he's trying to create a Dem hegemony. Rather, I think he hopes GOP voters will elect a new team who are capable of compromise so that his "postpartisan" approach can actually work. If he keeps it up, and is genuine about it and not just using it as a tactic, he'll put a pressure on Republican officeholders that will select for ability to get along and compromise. Which could actually save them as a viable party, rather than crushing them.

The current obstreperous group will end up self-destructing not because Obama is doing something sneaky or underhanded to outfox them, but precisely because he really is taking the high road, and they can't follow him up there. Which come to think of it is just the same way that MLK succeeded. That's what's so awesome about Obama compared to other Dems in my eyes: he can win nasty fights with tactics that consist of genuinely doing the right thing. This is also why I've said that he's someone that represents both the left and the center without undercutting either; he can lead from both positions at once, by being idealistic but never dogmatic.