A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Listening to Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, one would naturally think that he was trying to get us past the point where political discussions in Washington and across the country were replete with partisan invective. The President has made much of his desire to bring about a "new tone" in Washington, the same goal George W. Bush tried to achieve while partisans on the other side compared him to Hitler.

But now, the White House appears to be concerned about the President's political fortunes. I guess that would explain this:

In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed "an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."

It hasn't taken long for the recriminations to return -- or for the Obama administration to begin talking about the unwelcome "inheritance" of its predecessor.

Over the past month, Obama has reminded the public at every turn that he is facing problems "inherited" from the Bush administration, using increasingly bracing language to describe the challenges his administration is up against. The "deepening economic crisis" that the president described six days after taking office became "a big mess" in remarks this month to graduating police cadets in Columbus, Ohio.

"By any measure," he said during a March 4 event calling for government-contracting reform, "my administration has inherited a fiscal disaster."

Obama's more frequent and acid reminders that former president George W. Bush left behind a trillion-dollar budget deficit, a 14-month recession and a broken financial system have come at the same time Republicans have ramped up criticism that the current president's policies are compounding the nation's economic problems.

Obama had initially been content to leave partisan defense strategy to his proxies, but as the fiscal picture has continued to darken, he has appeared more willing to risk his image as a politician who is above petty partisanship to personally remind the public of Bush's legacy.

His approval ratings remain strong -- above 60 percent, according to the most recent Gallup poll -- but have dropped from their highs almost entirely because of falling support among Republicans since he took office.

Politics ain't beanbag, and it comes as no surprise that eventually, the Obama White House would lead a return to hyperpartisan ways. At the same time, however, it is worth noting this shift in tone as being entirely and completely antithetical to everything Obama ran on. The President promised us a new kind of politics. It is entirely clear that he is now embracing the old kind with a vengeance.

When George W. Bush did anything that even remotely smacked of partisanship, he was accused of being polarizing and divisive. One trusts that the same standards will apply to the current President. I suppose that Obama partisans will point out that because Republicans have taken the President to task, he is left with little choice but to be a partisan. This is a good point. However, since those very same partisans were not as understanding towards the previous occupant of the White House, I see no reason whatsoever why the current occupant should be spared accusations of engaging divisiveness and polarization. Sauce for the goose, and all that.