SO MUCH FOR THE BIPARTISAN PRESIDENT 

Heading into the election next week, PrezBo's approval ratings are at an all-time low. Harris Interactive tells us that just 37% of Americans have a positive opinion of how Obama is handling the presidency. Our wonderful bipartisan president has managed to divide our nation more than ever. The 37% who say Obama is doing a wonderful job? Not hard to figure out. Consider, for instance, the burgeoning moocher class.

There is, though, one thing that a much larger majority of people do seem to agree on - their feelings on Congress. Just 11% of Americans give Congress a positive rating, while 89% give them a negative rating. Even when you break it down along party lines, 81% of Democrats give Congress a negative rating. Remember (for you Obama voters), Democrats control the Congress and they have since January 2007.

But back to this idea of Barack Obama being bipartisan. (And you'll excuse me for a moment while I think back to Cynthia Tucker's thoughts on Obama trying too hard to be bipartisan) Let's take a look at the two faces of Barack Obama ... on the one hand we have Obama stating, "We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back." Then we have chief mouthpiece Robert "Baby Huey" Gibbs saying that Obama "will reach out as he did and try as best as he can to work with the Republican Party."

Which Obama are we going to get?

The answer: Probably the same one we've already seen. The same president that treated bipartisanship as nothing but smoke and mirrors. While holding a few meetings here and there, even a summit on healthcare, Republicans have been blocked from virtually everything the Democrats have done over the last two years. The great and wonderful stimulus package was crafted without a single Republican in the room. In fact, House Democrats shut Republicans out of offering floor amendments to all spending legislation. The recent small business package? Republicans were shut out of offering any amendments. Healthcare? Same exact thing. The Democrats, including Barack Obama, cannot claim bipartisanship and then completely shut out the other side. How many times did Obama react to an effort from Republicans to present ideas by saying "Hey ... I won!" Now with the Republicans coming into their own and gaining power in Congress, it will be interesting to see what Obama does when he doesn't have Nancy Pelosi and maybe even Harry Reid there as his first line of defense.