Yesterday on Meet The Press, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) called for the immediate passage of the expansion of S-CHIP as the first step toward President-elect Obama's promise to expand access to quality affordable health care. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) immediately jumped on the idea calling it "divisive." Right. You see, in the Republicans' world, a bill that had the support of large majorities of both houses of Congress but was scuttled by the president's veto is termed divisive (vetoing a bill with majority support in congress and the nation, however, was perfectly acceptable.)

Martinez's comment provided a window into the new Republican strategy of trying to scuttle any reforms that a President Obama might implement: try to use Obama's promise to unite the country and cross party lines against him and to portray passing anything that Republicans oppose as "divisive" and "partisan."

The problem for Republicans: President-elect Obama's victory is largely seen as a repudiation of the last 8 years, which means that reversing Bush policies is precisely what he was elected to do, whether it be expanding S-CHIP and federal funding of stem cell research or closing Gitmo.

President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

This move will not be without controversy or complication as an entirely new court system may need to be devised for detainees "whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information," a proposition that has been met with skepticism even on the left. But this report is just the latest signal that president-elect Obama intends to follow through on his promises. And while the right will try to frame this move -- and many others -- as "partisan" and "lurching to the left," Obama appears to get that he is implementing a mainstream agenda, one that has been embraced with enthusiasm by the American people. Any attempt by Republicans to portray it as radical only serves to reinforce the fact that it is they that are out of the mainstream.