Partisanship: Why Does Doing Right Depend on Which Side of the Aisle You Sit On?

Democrat Barack Obama decries the “bitter partisanship” of our politics and talks about building a new governing coalition of “Democrats, Independents, who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington.” It’s time to put old battles behind us, he says, and start solving problems.

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately Obama is not the only one who has uttered those or words similar, which turned out to be simple rhetoric no matter their original intent. Why?