Did Congressional Quarterly time this piece so that conservatives would be reading it the day that John McCain effectively became the nominee of the Republican party? They consider what President McCain's domestic agenda might look like next year, if there's a Democratic Congress:
But when he is with the Democrats, he is really with them. McCain is not someone who simply reaches across the aisle to form coalitions with the other side. He walks across the aisle, puts on the other team's uniform and sings the other team's fight song...
This will be a full partnership of the president and the Congress, who just happen to be of different parties.
'A full partnership' is clearly an exaggeration; John McCain disagrees with Democrats on too many domestic policy issues -- from judge, to taxes, to spending -- to enter into any kind of partnership with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Furthermore, Congressional Democrats will spend the next 8 months savaging John McCain, and trying to convince the American people that McCain is more conservative and out of touch than George Bush. And if he is sworn in, from day one they'll be working to ensure that he's a one-term president.
So there's not going to be any partnership.
That said, there are clearly plenty of conservatives that think CQ has it exactly right. A major task for McCain over the next 8 months is to convince them that Congressional Quarterly has got it exactly wrong.
