The View From Here . . .

By Bob Morgan, Jr.

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama promised to transcend what he called "slash and burn" traditional politics by offering solutions that would go beyond liberal and conservative labels. He spoke of himself as a proud Democrat but also, in an effort to reach out to Republicans, of the importance of individual responsibility.

While it is early in Mr. Obama's term, it is pretty clear that he has not succeeded, at least so far, in his promise to forge a third way in politics. Indeed, Mr. Obama's presidency is an extremely polarizing one. In the most recent Gallup tracking poll, Mr. Obama has a 52% approval rating among adults, but the sample is sharply splintered. 86% of Democrats approve of his job performance, but only 16% of Republicans; the approval rating by independents is 49%.

In some ways, Mr. Obama's lack of success in gaining support across party lines is no different from the results of his last two predecessors. George W. Bush hoped that his experience with the Texas legislature would help "change the tone" in Washington, but, except in a brief moment of national unity after the 9/11 attacks, he never had much support among Democrats. (His controversial election in 2000 certainly did not help the cause.) As for Bill Clinton, his impeachment had strong support among Republicans, but it was almost universally rejected among Democrats and had little support among independents.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton at least made significant efforts to gain support among the other party, beyond just words. Mr. Bush partnered with Senator Edward Kennedy to enact the No Child Left Behind law and made a significant effort to reach out to moderates in both parties in crafting a proposed comprehensive immigration bill. For his part, Mr. Clinton was a staunch free trader and supporter of the NAFTA treaty and also signed into law a comprehensive welfare reform act.

In contrast, Mr. Obama has not reached out to Republicans with his policies, at least domestic ones. From the $787 billion stimulus bill, to the omnibus appropriations bill, to the cap and trade energy bill, to the proposed health care legislation, Mr. Obama strikes most Republicans (and many independents) as pretty much a standard issue liberal Democrat who would like to expand the scope of government even at the cost of huge deficits. (This week, the Obama Administration itself raised its 2010 budget deficit estimate by 19% to $1.5 trillion.)

There are, of course, costs to a polarizing presidency. Mr. Bush was described by partisan opponents as a "smirking chimp" (the title of a website), called BushHitler and accused by "truthers" of having fabricated the World Trade Center attacks. While Mr. Clinton had a number of real scandals, there was no shortage of completely false accusations as well - responsibility for Vince Foster's suicide, a role in the death of drug suspects in Arkansas and even fathering a child with a prostitute. Now it is Mr. Obama's turn, as overheated critics ("birthers") are claiming without evidence that he was born in Kenya.

Mr. Obama cannot be expected to change his priorities merely to placate his critics, but if he desires to be less polarizing, his policymakers should take into account that almost 60 million Americans voted for John McCain in 2008. Mere words are not enough. As the experience of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attests, overtures to the other party are not always successful in converting rapid opponents, but at least they can help prevent a bad situation of excessive division from getting worse.