Lindsay Graham swoons: Obama is mean

It's clear that the GOP talking points have been distributed, and "mean" and "partisan" are at the top of their list. The religious right is using the same talking points, about Obama being mean and partisan during his joint address. Of course, he wasn't at all. He even refused to name names, let alone political parties.

But there's a method to the GOP's madness. They're still trying to play Obama because it worked before. When Republicans criticize Democrats, Democrats, especially of late, tend to cave in an effort to get the Republicans to stop being mean, and more generally, appease them. It's what happened with this morning's news that Dem Senators Baucus and Conrad have tightened the anti-immigrant provisions of their health care proposal in order to appease the concerns of Joe "You Lie!" Wilson. Generally speaking, the Dems on the Hill are terrified of being criticized, while our President often shows a visceral disdain for defending himself or his views. This only motivates Republicans to keep up the criticism, and intensity it, in order to get more Democratic concessions.

And that is why Lindsay Graham is having the vapors over Obama's speech. The Republicans hope to play on Obama's desire for comity. Will he bite?