And the winner is... the Campaign Industrial Complex

The election night acceptance speech and its mention of the "next term" ignited at lightning speed a seamless transition from campaign-to election-to the next campaign, now underway . As it turns out, the first Obama economic stimulus has been to the Campaign Industrial Complex.

More endless polling, focus groups and spin are already the order of the day. Don't be fooled that a single decision will be made without consideration of its impact on the next election.

Here are a few examples of some principles already swept aside.

Remember promises to reach across the aisle and work in a non-partisan manner? Gone.

While I am not a fan of Joe Lieberman, the Democrats were happy to have him in the caucus when his vote made the difference for them regaining leadership. Lieberman has always been a pro-Iraq-War hawk, but his vote for D leadership was needed so he was allowed to stay in the caucus after being elected as an Independent. To an outside the Beltway observer, the get-Joe movement makes the governing party looks mean and afraid of dissent. 

Remember the promise to meet with world leaders - including President Ahmadinejad of Iran - for a dialogue? Gone.

Hillary Clinton called Obama "naive" for even suggesting he would meet with the President of Iran. Now it turns out the voters who crave dialogue and rejection of endless wars are the ones that were naive.

Remember the fierce opposition to unitary government where the checks and balances of government were undermined? Gone.

I have called for legislation to ban the issuance of signing statements by the President. I believe they are unconstitutional since only the Congress can legislate. Now it turns out the opposition was only to unitary government by the R's, and its fine for the D's. So much for balances, and the checks? They are in the mail.