President Obama’s pick for Commerce Secretary, the Republican Senator Gregg from New Hampshire has decided the ideology gulf is too wide and has pulled his name from consideration. From his statement:
“However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.
Thus we see the limits of bipartisanship. It isn’t a matter of just getting along. Political differences have an origin in different ideas. These cannot be ignored in the name of mere pragmatism. Being pragmatic also involves ideas.