Don't Give Up on Bipartisanship, Barack

Barack Obama came into the White House pledging bipartisanship, but one month in, pundits are telling the president to forget compromise and "get real." Don't listen, writes David S. Broder in the Washington Post, who calls those recommendations "the worst advice he has received." Not only has bipartisanship served past presidents well, it's also critical for Obama's future battles on health care, energy, and immigration.

While Obama struck out in the House, it was only by wooing three Republican senators that the stimulus passed at all. And soon Obama will introduce programs that many Dems fear; he'll need the support of other GOP leaders: Bob Bennett for health, Dick Lugar for foreign affairs, and, yes, John McCain for immigration reform. "To throw all this away out of frustration with what happened on the stimulus bill," writes Broder, "would be insane." (More Barack Obama stories.)