Both sides say that without a clear mandate from the American people, bipartisanship is the only way to get things done. Given the tenor of the post-election campaign, the challenges posed for bipartisan cooperation are daunting. We asked two Kennedy School experts to share their views. David King , an associate professor of public policy at the Kennedy School, says most Congressional Republicans may not be eager to share power. Depending on how one counts the Senate, the Republicans control the White House and all of Congress for the first time since 1954.
Most congressional Republicans are in no mood to share power.
Harry Truman, when he was Franklin Roosevelt's vice-president, was the last VP to play an active role in Senate proceedings. If we look at the voting records of the leadership teams, they tend to be more ideologically extreme than the median of their own party. This is nothing new, actually. The leadership of both parties will exert disproportionate pressure on the moderates to stay with the party on vote after vote. President-elect Bush has already cited a slowing down of the economy as a signal that tax cuts are needed.