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Barack Obama is fighting his first major political battle with the US congress over the gargantuan economic stimulus plan. While eventual passage of some version of the plan seems certain, Republicans are seeking to inflict maximum political damage on the new president and his ascendant Democratic party. Obama opened with an appeal for bipartisanship, seeking out Republicans in their lair on Capitol Hill, asking for their ideas, even wining and dining them at a SuperBowl football party. But Republicans in the House of Representatives spurned his overtures, unanimously turning up their noses at the stimulus plan. Culture War politics Senate Republicans have successfully seized on parts of the package they could portray as frivolous or wasteful - such as $50m in funding for the arts. The arts gambit is a good example of the old Culture War politics that Republicans have used effectively in the past. They seek to convince ordinary, gun-toting, 'Joe-SixPack' Americans that Obama wa...