Bipartisan and partisan

President Obama has vowed to change the tone in Washington, calling on lawmakers to put aside petty politics. Easier said than done.

President Bush vowed to be a uniter, and admitted he fell way short of that goal. In order for Obama to be successful on his bipartisan goals, members of Congress must play a role.

It is debatable how much bipartisanship has increased on Obama’s watch, if at all, but notable that only three Republicans voted for his stimulus package and not one backed his budget.

But Obama has been in office only three months, so the jury has to stay out longer before deciding the issue.

{mosads}To get a sense of who in Congress could help Obama, The Hill asked every senator who on the other side of the aisle was the easiest to work with, and who was the hardest.

Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were deemed the most bipartisan while Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) are the most partisan, according to The Hill’s survey.

Making the most-partisan list will probably not help the reelection hopes of Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) (No. 2) and Bunning, who are facing challenging races in 2010.

There is a place for both bipartisanship and partisanship on Capitol Hill. In Washington, ideological differences matter, but not always. Many times, it’s not what you say, but how you say it.

For example, Kennedy can deliver a fiery, partisan speech. But he can also sit down at the table and strike a deal. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who tied for fourth as the most bipartisan GOP senator, is also in that category.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), meanwhile, was the only member to crack the top five in both the bipartisan and partisan categories.

While it is telling which senators are considered easy to deal with, it is also noteworthy which members of the upper chamber didn’t get cited that much.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) regularly bucks his party, but he didn’t make the top five bipartisans. Neither did Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) or Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who are both well to the right of their party. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who backed McCain for president, was not mentioned a lot by senators.

In conducting the survey, The Hill’s J. Taylor Rushing found that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) keeps a journal on every Republican he works with. Brown says he doesn’t show the notebook to anyone, adding that he is aiming to legislate with every Republican member on at least one issue.

Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) doesn’t agree with Obama on a lot. But he misses Obama in the Senate, pointing out that they joined forces on several pieces of legislation.