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Originally Posted by loquitur
His politics are totally conventional.
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I'm going to disagree with you here. His
policies are relatively conventional (if such a word can be used to describe the "typical"
progressive policies), but his
politics are nothing short of radical.
The Democratic approach to bipartisanship that has been predominant since the early Clinton era is what's known as "triangulation". Basically, the candidate slides to the right to capture "the middle"--the moderate or even left-edge-of-conservative vote. That's what has passed for bipartisanship for the last twenty years.
Obama has an entirely different and new approach to bipartisanship and coalition building. He's perceived that even the most conservative Member of Congress (for instance) may be progressive on certain issues. By reaching out across the aisle on a specific, issue-by-issue basis, he's shown himself able to construct bipartisan majorities without sacrificing his own moral or political position.
This is absolutely NOT politics as usual. Look, the man has said it's not out of the question he'd put together a bipartisan cabinet! When was the last time that happened?