For the past two months, President Obama has bent over backwards to act in a bipartisan manner to solicit Republican support for an economic recovery package. "The monopoly on good ideas does not belong to a single party," Obama told Republican and Democratic leaders in a closed-door meeting before his inaugration. "If it's a good idea, we will consider it."

True to his word, Obama has gone to great lengths to demonstrate his commitment to bipartisanship

- He attended a House GOP conference meeting to make an in-person appeal, "an exceptional gesture for any president."
- He then joined a Senate Republican luncheon, spending "two hours and 37 minutes at the Capitol entirely with Republicans."
- He hosted an inauguration dinner in honor of his Republican opponent John McCain. Obama also invited Republican and Democratic lawmakers to a White House "happy hour" after the House vote on the stimulus.
- He scheduled numerous White Housemeetings, including "one-on-one meetings" with GOP centrists in the Oval Office.
- Rahm Emanuel "invited a group of moderate Republicans to a private White House meeting."
- Obama even welcomed a bipartisan group to the White House to watch the Super Bowl.

Obama's actions were more than mere symbolic gestures. He introduced a package with over $300 billion in tax cuts to win conservative support. To win House GOP support, he responded to their concerns by stripping a sensible family planning provision and a jobs-creating provision to restore the National Mall. To win Senate GOP support, the White House and Democratic leaders accepted Republican amendments to the bill, including threeamendmentsoffered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).