When you look at the entrenched divisiveness of the party system as it presently exists...when you look at the fact that they live to do damage to one another and thereby sieze power...it's almost inconceivable that any American president can be successful in accomplishing a genuine spirit of bipartisanship.

Those two parties loath and despise one another, and they act accordingly.

There is only one kind of situation that produces unity between them: An outside threat or an outside attack of a very extreme nature. It has to be one that comes from outside the USA.

Examples of that:

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour

The 911 attacks

The tribes will only unite in the face of a foreign enemy.

This world of human beings would unite immediately in the face of an alien invasion from outer space....but barring that? They will continue to compete with and war upon their fellow humans.

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Obama's comments were very well put indeed.