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Democrats' Response Sounds Theme Of Bipartisanship

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By LAURIE KELLMAN, The Associated Press

Published: January 29, 2008

WASHINGTON - Democrats in the midst of their own roiling presidential nomination fight followed President Bush's State of the Union address not so much with a response as with their own theme of bipartisan cooperation.

Their messenger Monday night was Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a red-state Democrat touted by congressional leaders as a symbol of bipartisanship.

"In this time, normally reserved for the partisan response, I hope to offer you something more: an American response," Sebelius said from the governor's mansion in Topeka. "There is a chance, Mr. President, in the next 357 days, to get real results and give the American people renewed optimism that their challenges are the top priority."

Her remarks followed criticism last week by Democratic congressional leaders that was plenty partisan. They demanded that Bush accomplish a string of Democratic objectives that he was unlikely to consider in the last year of his administration.

In a softer tone than the Democrats' last week, Sebelius invited Bush to take a series of legislative actions Democrats want, such as signing a bill he's vetoed twice to expand federal health care coverage from 6 million to 10 million children.

"Join us, Mr. President, sign the bill and let's get to work," she said.

Democrats aren't holding their breath for a presidential change of heart, and that was just the point.

The Democrats were aiming more for drawing distinctions with Bush than creating consensus in an election year with the presidency and their majorities at stake.

The divide between the Democrats' own presidential candidates was hard to miss for its bitterness. After weeks of sniping, rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama arrived in the same House chamber for the same annual speech and sat in the same row.

The chances of good coming from the proximity were scant. Indeed, photos captured a split-second snub: Clinton reached across Obama to shake the hand of Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Democratic icon whose endorsement she sought and lost to Obama earlier in the day.

Kennedy shook her hand. Obama turned away. A doorkeeper, caught between it all, cringes in the photo that captures the moment.

In Topeka Monday night, Sebelius said: "We are tired of leaders who, rather than asking what we can do for our country, ask nothing of us at all."

On policy, Sebelius made reference to the short-term stimulus package House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Bush announced last week, suggesting that "a temporary fix is only the first step toward meeting our challenges and solving our problems."

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