The Decider Gets a Message. But Will He Heed It?

"A rabbi, a priest and an ayatollah walk into a bar . . ."

Beyond the war in Iraq, the biggest message that voters delivered to The Decider on Tuesday in greasing the skids for a Democratic takeover of Congress is that the era of partisan governance was over.

In other words, it was time for him to knock off all the red vs. blue stuff.

On Wednesday there was the sight of a president with a bit less starch in his swagger who seemed to have gotten the message when he said at a press conference:

“Let’s work together with Democrats and independents on the great issues facing this country."

"We can work together over the next two years . . . "

"We can find common ground in the next two years . . .
"
" . . . try to work through our differences . . ."

"I intend to work with the new Congress in a bipartisan way."

" . . . to find common-sense solutions . . . "

And so on and so forth.

If you had been in a coma and suddenly awoke to see this performance, you might think that the era of Rovian politics was over. That the Great Divider and gotten his comeuppance.

Well, you would be wrong.

While The Decider was chastened by his trip to the electoral woodshed, there is nothing in his history or style to suggest that he is capable of being open to bipartisan governance.

You can bet the ranch that the Democrats will open the next Congress with a series of hearings on everything from Iraq to the economy that for the White House will be as excruciating a denuciation of its policies as the voters delivered.

Note also that for all of House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi's kissy face after the polls closed, working with the president will not come naturally to the Democrats either.

There is a lot of bad blood on both sides and it's not going to be wished away.

(Photography by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)