Grand Bargaineering

I'd bet good money that a lot of Dems are plotting how to join with "reasonable Republicans" to obtain happy united unity and thwart the "Trump wing" of the Republican party. It's just in the blood of Democrats. I know lots of people think Obama was just using grand bargaineering during that phase to make the point that the Republicans wouldn't bargain, but that really wasn't the case. They wanted the bargain. They thought they were going to get the bargain. They thought Boehner and Cantor and Ryan and McConnell were "serious people" who just had to find ways to keep their crazies at bay. You might also think the bargain they were aiming for was a good thing, given the circumstances. I thought it sucked. Sequestration sucked, too, but at least it didn't make Dems responsible for Republican policies for a couple of decades (hint: taking responsibility for cutting stuff for the elderly is only popular on Fred Hiatt's crayon scribble page.)