It's always interesting to see what people read into Obama's statements on partisanship. The idea that he's "post-partisan" is entirely a media creation; he's spoken against the nasty tone and style of partisanship, not against the existence of the parties. In the beginning, I was concerned that he was taking the "centrist" line of bipartisanship and compromise for its own sake, which would be worrisome because modern conservatives have thrived on declaring each compromise to be the Democrats' position and demanding a new "compromise" between that and their position. But on reading his actual statements, it was clear that he wasn't advocating finding the mushy middle for the sake of compromise, he was inviting Republicans (particularly Republican voters, rather than legislators) to join us in doing the right things, rather than beginning by compromising on what the right things are.

The one strong theme in Obama's career is that he understands how to get things done, and understands that getting things done isn't all about him. In that light, I find his building on and expanding the Dean infrastructure tremendously heartening.