You've probably heard about the end of yesterday's fiscal responsibility summit: President Obama had all of the various officials and stakeholders present gather so he could solicit their reactions to the day's events. He started with a snappy back-and-forth with John McCain over helicopter use. As he continued working the crowd, he sounded more and more like the professor he once was, calling on people by their first names (to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor: "Eric, you got some thoughts?"), complimenting SEIU leader Andy Stern on his scarf, cracking a joke about "socialized medicine" with Senator Mike Enzi and recognizing Charlie Rangel for his experience with tax reform in 1986. As always, someone asked Obama about bipartisanship in Congress and particularly in the House:
[T]he majority has to be inclusive. On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive.
And so to the extent that on many of these issues we are able to break out of sort of the rigid day-to-day politics and think long term, then what you should see, I think, is the majority saying, what are your ideas; the minority has got to then come up with those ideas and not just want to blow the thing up. And I think that on some of these issues, we're going to have some very real differences and, you know, presumably the majority will prevail unless the minority can block it. ...
... But on the issue that was just raised here on procurement, on the issues -- some of the issues surrounding health care, the way it cuts isn't even going to be Democratic/Republican. It's going to be -- you know, there may be regional differences, there may be a whole host of other differences. And if that's -- if we can stay focused on solving problems, then I will do what I can, through my good offices, to encourage the kind of cooperation you're encouraging....
... I'm just a glutton for punishment. (Laughter.) I'm going to keep on talking to Eric Cantor. Some day, sooner or later, he is going to say, boy, Obama had a good idea. (Laughter.) It's going to happen. You watch, you watch. (Laughter.)
Two things to note about that comment: one, despite the administration's clear posture after the stimulus bill of being more agressive in arguing their policy priorities, it's clear that at least rhetorical bipartisanship will continue. The second is that Obama mentions calling Cantor, but not House Minority Leader John Boehner, whose lack of initiative is really making his position precarious. In any case, it's funny to picture most of the top federal officials gathered in a room, doing break-out sessions and having a Q&A moderated by the president. (Weirdly, it sounds like Bill Clinton's dream presidency). It's unclear whether these discussions will have any effect on actual policymaking. It's really just another chance for Obama to impress his style and his priorities on his immediate colleagues in government. Almost like an educator-in-chief.
-- Tim Fernholz
