What Else Could Obama Have Done?

Chait chastises pundits who are "scolding President Obama for failing to use his mind-control powers to force Republicans to accept a tax hike":

[I]f Obama openly endorses a bipartisan [debt] plan, he’s killing it. And if he keeps his distance, he’s also killing it. What if he tries to directly negotiate a deficit reduction plan behind closed doors? Well, Obama did that, too, this last summer. Republicans opposed it as well.