Issues in International Political Economy - "President Obama's Negotiating Technique." - July 2009 - Number 115

Barack Obama campaigned as a person who believes that discussion with others who hold views different from his own would reduce domestic and international rancor. He may have modified his view in light of failures of reconciliation on both foreign and domestic issues. President Obama's objective is to resolve issues by bringing in the weaker party (the Republicans) in order to reduce political disagreement. This has not been successful. The best spokesman for change is President Obama because of his great rhetorical ability and the fact that his public popularity is higher than that of either his supporters or opponents. The time for compromise should be after Obama makes his own case for his proposals.