The contraception issue in the stimulus package was a lure. The republicans swallowed it and now Obama gets to not compromise on aspects of this package, and future proposals, that HE feels are non-negotiables.
It's interesting that many on this site want to judge the effectiveness of this long term strategy before we even see the preliminary results. There has been much gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair, accusations of treachery, and of "caving for the sake of caving". Are there really so few of us that see this as a strategic move on the President's part?
Obama has been President for less than a week and he has already enacted substantive aspects of his agenda that are highly symbolically antagonistic to Republican ideology, i.e. his executive orders on Guantanamo and torture, and lifting the "GAG" on funding of non-profit agencies that even "discuss" abortions. Not to mention getting his confirmations through with only symbolic opposition.
Anybody notice when Obama pulled the hearings on Holder? He did it when he was busy slamming out executive orders faster than Dick Cheney could read 'em and weep. Why? Because Obama always throws a bone to his prey a day or two before going in for the kill. The bigger the game, the bigger the bone. He'll work on Holder as soon as he can do so in the least "in your face" manner possible.
I have disagreed with some, albeit admittedly not many, of Obama's strategic moves in the past so I don't just tow the Obama line. One of them was the choice of HC as Secretary of State. Now, I am a huge fan of this choice and see it as a brilliant move AND the best choice for "getting sh-- done".
It took me a really long time to learn to relax and let Obama be Obama and work his magic. Does this mean I don't scrutinize, analyze, decry, or criticize as needed? Not at all. It just means that over these past two years I have developed a fine tuned sense of the way Obama pushes his agenda in the least disruptive but most effective manner possible, a manner that all but guarantees he wins the major battles over the long haul.
This is the difference between strategy and stategery.