Listen up, Republicans. By a strong vote of the people, Barack Obama won the presidency. Election results clearly were a rejection of the Bush era policies of secrecy and partisanship, of neglect of the middle class (that's most of us) and an expressed desire for open and honest governance that serves the good of us all.
A new form of cooperation has been proposed: President Obama is laying out plans to bring back openness in government, intelligent, thoughtful consideration of changes to create economic stability, to restore top quality health, security, financial and educational services - and to do these things in a bipartisan way.
Our citizens are tired of politicians putting their own self-interests first. We want our leaders to work for the common good. Those who continue to oppose this new government at every turn - will find themselves to be increasingly unpopular among more and more of our voters; never in our lifetimes has there been such urgency to help and support one another, to work together for the good of everyone. If you want to regain power and serve the country we all love, then join our president and do the pressing work of our nation in a bipartisan way that will help us all to move forward.
You cannot pretend cooperation while you secretly hope for the administration to fail. This is the time, the need for such actions is urgent, and all of us have been invited to help. Show us by your example that you really do want to serve the people you represent. This way, everyone wins. And only in this way will you draw back into your party the power you seek.
Joy Bumgardner, Educational consultant, Plymouth
