Obama continues pushing bi-partisan collaboration with Republicans

[Better Believe It]

Obama talks bipartisanship, health care
by Domenico Montanaro
February 3, 2010

President Obama stressed bipartisanship, transparency and fiscal responsibility during an hour-plus meeting with Senate Democrats on Wednesday, telling them the message they should take from the recent loss in Massachusetts was not "to do nothing" and pushing once again for passage of health care legislation.

In his State of the Union address last Wednesday night and an extraordinary question and answer session with House Republicans on Friday, the president has emphasized the need for both parties to reach across the aisle and work together and has sought to show the public that he is ready to do so. But he has also tried to reinvigorate Democrats. Coming less than a week after his visit with the House GOP in Baltimore, today's session was a rallying cry to his own party to step up and govern, with the president arguing that he still believed that "good policy over the long term is good politics."

Today's meeting was remarkable in terms of political strategy, since the vast majority of those senators who were chosen to ask questions were vulnerable incumbents, including Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet. At several points throughout the exchange, Obama uttered lines that could easily be used in campaign ads; lines like "Michael Bennet articulated it very well" and "Blanche is exactly right."

Read the full article at:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/02/03/2193759.aspx

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Obama invites top GOPs to White House
By Eric Zimmermann -
02/03/10

President Barack Obama will host a meeting of Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House next week.

The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, will be the first of the monthly bipartisan huddles that Obama promised during his State of the Union.

It also comes shortly after Obama addressed the House GOP retreat in Baltimore. Together, the events mark a concerted effort by the White House to demonstrate the bipartisanship Obama has been calling for.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/79481-obama-invites-gop-leadership-to-white-house

[mwrguy]

1. Whis is why we got no healthcare bill even with a supermajority

He should be crushing them like ants.

[RC]

2. Nothing wrong with reaching across the aisle, as long as he is calling them out on their B.S.

Shame them into crossing over with their tail between their legs.

Works for me.