I just got in and happened to see the very end of something quite amazing. I don’t know what the deal is, and I will look for the whole thing to go back and see it, but President Obama was talking with the House Republicans, having an open and honest discussion. I’ve only seen Sullivan’s take:
I’ve just watched the president address the Republican retreat in Baltimore. Address is not quite the right word, because it was a genuine – and remarkable – conversation between Obama and his political opponents – transparently on CSPAN … But here’s the key thing: Obama is best at this. He is best at defusing conflict; he is superb at engaging civilly with his opponents.
Whatever it was, I thought it was…unheard of. And great. But anyway, I’ll have to see what all happened and get back to it.
UPDATE:
I just love the sound of this:
In a sometimes-barbed exchange, he said some in the audience have attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the stimulus package they voted against. Obama also questioned why Republicans have overwhelmingly opposed his tax-cut policies, which he said have benefited 95 percent of American families.
“The notion that this was a radical package is just not true,” Obama said. “I am not an ideologue.”
GOP lawmakers pressed the president to pledge to support a line-item veto for spending bills and across-the-board tax cuts. Obama demurred, saying billionaires don’t need new tax cuts.
UPDATE II:
This has to be a good sign…in looking around for a story on this I couldn’t help but notice that Drudge has absolutely nothing.
UPDATE III:
It was amazing television – watchable, interesting, feisty and even a little dramatic … Today, at the caucus meeting, he went right after Republicans on their turf and, in my opinion, owned them.
UPDATE IV:
Ha ha! This just gets better:
So effective was the president that Fox News cut away from the broadcast 20 minutes before it ended.