President Obama came to national attention as a result of a speech he gave at the Democratic National Convention in which he called for a new kind of politics, a truly bipartisan politics. It was appealing, especially to those of us on the left who tend to value cooperation and collaboration a bit more than competition. Now many of us are tiring of Obama's focus on bipartisanship because it has started to look naive in the face of Republican obstructionism. Could it still work, or is it a recipe for a one term presidency?

I don't think I'll ever be accused of being overly optimistic, but I see only one way Obama's continued bipartisan focus could pay off. It is clear that elected Republicans have little interest in governing, and it is high time that Obama give up on them and move on. But what about those in their districts who do not feel represented by the right-wing extremists in office? Could President Obama somehow convince them to come over to his side?

The mind rot peddled by Fox "News" is insidiously effective, but there must be Republican and Independent voters who have turned it off. Might this be a pathway through which Obama might achieve something resembling bipartisanship? Such a strategy would effectively isolate the far-right politicians, cutting an important segment of their voting block out from under them.

If President Obama could manage such an accomplishment, it would be clear that we had underestimated him. I sure hope this is what he means by bipartisanship and that he is not still clinging to the hope that he will win over Republican members of Congress any time soon.

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