Why Bipartisanship Matters

Kevin Drum had a great article on Why Bipartisanship Matters.

"If all you want to do is hand out goodies — tax cuts, prescription drugs, defense contracts — life is easy.  Everyone loves goodies.  You don't need help from your opposite numbers to get stuff like that through Congress.

But what if you want to pass something tougher?  Something that takes as well as gives?  If you have bipartisan support, you can do it right: you can stand up to special interests and K Street lobbyists and enact real reform.  But you can only do this if you have political cover and plenty of votes.  If, instead, you have to do it in the face of implacable partisan opposition, then you can't afford to make any more enemies.  Every vote is precious, and that means instead of standing up to special interests, you have to buy them off.  All of them."

We know the Democrats and Republicans are different in how they hold the party line. Matthew Yglesias writes in The Hammer about one particular way that works.