William A. Galston

Forces within the Democratic Party are clearly mobilizing to prevent President Obama from returning to anything resembling the 2011 negotiations. Where [Nancy Pelosi] will come down on that, I don't know.

The government does remain divided, and I know there are a lot of people in the Democratic Party who believe the president doesn't have to compromise. But he has no choice but to negotiate. The chance of getting stuff done is dependent on his negotiations. He can't force his will on House Republicans.