Salvaging a Bad Negotiation

One of the great things about Washington, DC is it is full of People Who Know.  The real ones, not the ones who pretend to know or read the newspaper really, really thoroughly, but actual People Who Know.  I recently heard one of this ilk talk about the process for passing the financial bailout/economic stabilization package (whatever your viewpoint may be).  He covered other topics, but this was the part I found particularly interesting.  It was a great illustration of how smart, experienced people can still find themselves in a bad situation just because they approached it the wrong way.  And, now that we all know the end of this tale, how they managed to use some of the key variables in negotiations to turn things around.