Suppose he does remain a lame duck president. I'm assuming that your post means you're willing to pay three years of little action on the important issues facing the US as the price for Obama not passing legislation you disagree with. But what after 2012? Do you really think suddenly the next president will be that much better and that much more able to pass good legislation, or that much more capable to tackle the problems that will only have grown worse by then?

I can see the positive effects this defeat can have in terms of forcing Obama to be more bipartisan, ignoring the negative effects for a moment. But I cannot see how him being a lame duck president for the rest of his term is a good thing in any way, among other reasons because it would imply no improvement and more likely a worsening in the current polarization.