One aspect of the bipartisanship fetishization that I haven’t really fleshed out yet is the extent to which Republicans will always pitch a fit if Democrats aren’t sufficiently accommodating to Republican legislative goals. Over at his new home, The Plum Line, Greg Sargent writes about Rep. Eric Cantor’s pearl-clutching complaints against Democratic interest groups’ ads attack Republicans. Sargent quotes Cantor saying:

“President Obama should immediately disavow plans by some political groups who announced they will run attack ads against Republicans,” Cantor says. “Let us be clear: attack ads will not create jobs or help struggling families but will only serve to undermine our nation’s desire for bipartisanship. Instead of thinking about winning at any cost, we should all be thinking about creating the jobs Americans need.”

You know, I’m not even sure that Cantor is right when he says “attack ads will not create jobs” — as they do in fact provide jobs to actors, editors, media buyers, writers, etc. That’s really neither here nor there, though.

Cantor is creating a red herring. The ads aren’t the problem, as they didn’t stop Republicans from voting for the stimulus, which while smaller than needed is still expected to create 2-3 million jobs. Republicans are the problem , through their  obstructionism, opposition for the sake of opposition, and whining to the media that Obama is using his mandate to pass things the American public gave him mandate to pass.

I don’t doubt that there are many Americans that genuinely want to see bipartisanship (in this context used by its definition, not as Cantor or Mark Halperin define it). But more than abstract ideas about comity, Americans want government that works. Not all ideas, policies, and programs are created equally. Some are right, some are wrong, some are good, some are bad.

I don’t recall a single point in the stimulus debate where Obama and his administration made the substantive items a question of winning or losing on them. There was no “win” orientation when they pulled funding for birth control. There was no care of “winning at any cost” when they pulled bankruptcy reform from the stimulus.

Cantor is simply making things up.  But the effect of Cantor’s lies is to add inertia to their “Obama wasn’t bipartisan enough” meme. Expect this to continue to gain traction as the whine reaches an increasingly high pitch.

Update:

Here’s the ad in question. Good lord Cantor is whining. This is about as soft an attack ad I’ve ever seen. Hell, it’s not even an attack!

Disclosure: I’m proud to work for the Service Employees International Union. This post was neither approved by nor with the knowledge of SEIU. It represents my views alone.