John Sides nods:
Americans want politics to do two things: They want it to “work,” so they complain about incivility, partisanship, gridlock and so on, but they also want politics to give them the policies they want. When people complain about gridlock, it’s not because they want just any policy to pass. They want their preferred policy to pass. And the easiest way to enact landmark legislation, as Obama’s first term illustrates, is to get large partisan majorities and leverage their power, even at the risk of the occasional “go f–k yourself.”
Hence the basic irony inherent in the Obama presidency: He campaigned as a post-partisan, but his most lasting accomplishments will be those of a partisan.
But the GOP simply refused to allow him to be post-partisan. And you cannot do it alone. Obama did not react immediately; as usual, he let them destroy themselves before he consigned them to history. But now, after their insistence on partisanship, he has ever right to take the fight to them. Rewarding their partisanship wouldn’t advance the system. Ending the abuse of the filibuster would – but that’s up to Reid.
The Dish 