Pelosi Didn't Get the Memo

From our friends at the NRCC:

DCCC Dismisses Obama’s Calls for Bipartisanship

Washington Post Editorial: Politics, Still Strangled: Did the DCCC miss Mr. Obama's memo?

SPIN CYCLE:

Pelosi Proclaimed Congress Must “Work in a Bipartisan Way and Build Consensus”

“The challenges before us are formidable. Some can be solved immediately; others will take more time.

“To solve all of them, we must govern from the middle – reaching across the aisle to work in a bipartisan way and build consensus.

“We will work together with greatest civility.” – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Speech at Bipartisan New Member Dinner, 11/17/08

RINSE CYCLE:

Dems Only Willing to Offer up More of the Same, DCCC Plays Partisan Politics as Usual

“PRESIDENT OBAMA says he wants a new era of bipartisanship. Among the areas where he is sure to need bipartisan help are foreign aid and fixing the nation's credit system. So why is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee taking cheap shots at Republicans for their votes in those two areas?

“The hits come in radio ads that the DCCC began running yesterday against 28 Republican incumbents for their opposition to Mr. Obama's stimulus bill. That's fair enough; the stance on the bill is a major fault line between the two parties. But the ads also contrast the Republicans' opposition to stimulus with their votes ‘to bail out big banks,’ in some cases, and for ‘building new schools in Iraq,’ in others. ‘Times are tough,’ one ad says. ‘Tell [Rep.] Thad McCotter to put American jobs first.’

“The first reference is to last fall's vote on the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which Mr. Obama and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chief of the DCCC, both supported -- and rightly so. The second is to a 2005 vote on emergency funds for Iraq that passed 386 to 43, again with Mr. Van Hollen in the majority -- again, rightly so. A spokeswoman for the DCCC says the ads are merely seeking to draw a contrast between past and present votes, and the White House has said that Mr. Obama isn't going to start refereeing others' commercials.

“Well, okay. But when he reaches out to Republicans for help on, say, Afghan reconstruction or the next slice of funds to rescue the banking system, he shouldn't be surprised if they reply, effectively, ‘How dumb do you think we are?’”