"...unfortunate truth of the matter is that they're willing to play hardball on a tiny number of issues, and to give ground more or less everywhere else..."

Sadly, this is too true. I would argue, however, that this stems more from the shared addiction to big government found in both neoconservatism and modern liberalism, than from a genteelness within the White House. The long term ends of public policies are not so different -- even if their short term ends seem opposed -- when the means by which those polices are implemented nearly identical. That is why modern liberalism and neoconservatism can so easily accommodate one another. When you both agree that big government is the answer, the only question left is who runs the show.

Well Said!

NeoConservative = A liberal who owns a gun