How to Change a Culture? Shifting Blame from President to Community

Last week I read Scott McClellan's What Happened:Inside the Bush White House and the Culture of Deception. While the whole book was fascinating, I found the recap of Bush's 2000 campaign particularly riveting, since I mostly ignored the campaign when it was unfolding. (I was a sophomore in high school, after all.)

According to McClellan, Bush touted in 2000 that he "would change the tone in Washington," that he would be "a uniter, not a divider." In his campaign Bush said he valued "trust over cynicism."

McClellan makes no nods towards Obama's campaign rhetoric, and since the section I quote from here makes up only three paragraphs in the book's 320 pages, I don't think McClellan was trying to malign Obama in any way. But it's obvious that "unity" is an effective campaign catchphrase, given that the past two presidents pushed for it at the outset.

Bush, according to McClellan, bought into a win-at-all-costs culture only after becoming president, when he fell to the allure of the permanent campaign—the drive to keep one's party in power.

I think Obama is falling to the same allure. I really believe, despite having been spanked hard in the butt (literally) by a rabid Limbaugh listener for saying so, that Obama is not evil. I think that both Bush and Obama were and are well-intentioned, and that they generally had and have good motives. But I have to agree with McClellan that Washington's penchant for campaigning and lobbying is a weight that sinks presidents down to secrecy.

Obama's transparency has been better than Bush's, but Obama has still fallen short of his own over-noble promises. This article reveals, for instance, that in his first 100 days in office he posted only 1 of 14 bills online for public viewing, contrary to his promise that he'd do so for every non-emergency bill.

I'm wondering as well why the upcoming health care bill, if passed, won't really be enacted until 2013. Not only does this allow the CBO to include three years of minor changes in their 10-year-estimate, likely making the estimate lower, but it comes (suspiciously?) after an election year (see here, here, and here.). Is this delay in place so that if the changes flop they'll flop after Obama wins in 2012?

I have no vendetta for Obama as a person, and I think that he carries a more nuanced and intelligent worldview than Bush did. I almost can't fault either president for making loads of promises impossible to keep. But I worry that the culture of Washington is so concerned with power that it currently makes transparency and real bipartisanship impossible. I'm left wondering, What can be done to change the culture not just in Washington but in America at large so that presidents have the incentive to be open and candid?