Word: bipartisanism
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Obama should not be afraid to drop the 4,500 pages of Democratic health legislation. He should commit to work in an open, bipartisan manner on new legislation that would earn public support both for its substance and through the transparent process by which it is crafted. (See pictures of Obama's first year in the White House...
...Republicans should not be afraid to walk in with a series of positive ideas and to work with Democrats on legislation in a genuinely bipartisan fashion. Some GOP partisans so deeply distrust Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid that they assume even meeting with them is an act of betrayal. But Republicans should have confidence that they can always say no to bad ideas. Indeed, they should be open to the possibility of finding supportable measures that would be good for the country and totally compatible with their values...
Setting aside fear to enter into negotiations does not mean entering a period of harmonious and easy-to-achieve bipartisan partnership. Under President Reagan, we never had a majority in the House, so every bill had to include a lot of Democrats. The negotiating was difficult, and the debates were tough, but in the end we got a lot done...
Reagan's phrase "Trust but verify" is the best way to think of genuine bipartisan negotiations. Republicans will still be conservative. Obama and his team will still be liberal. The question is whether the two sides can find enough common ground to hammer out agreements that will be good for the American people...
...team use this summit as a cynical maneuver to try to force the Republicans into supporting the existing legislation, they will look dishonest. Instead, the summit is an opportunity for Obama to reunite with the American people by dropping the Big Government bill and opening up to a genuine bipartisan solution...