What is Compromise?

I have heard that the best agreement is one where both sides are 80% happy and 20% unhappy. Regardless of what you think of this definition, when people talk about two political parties getting along, we tend to think that a deal is better when no one fully likes the deal, but both are willing to accept it.

How about both see progress on a bill, but both say for different reasons. The following is a quote from an NY Times article. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/business/22regulate.html?th&emc=th

"But the sides offered starkly different reasons for their optimism. Republicans said that they had forced Democrats back to the bargaining table to negotiate a bipartisan accord, while Democrats said that Republicans were hastily abandoning their opposition in fear of a public outcry."

The reason this is funny to me is because both sides say that they will vote for the bill because the other side completely gave in and had to give up on what they wanted. This is a strange view of compromise that does not bode well for the idea that working together can build better relationships in the future.