Obama turns on the charm

What happened

President Obama has launched a charm offensive to repair his broken relations with the Republican Party, meeting and dining with congressional lawmakers in an attempt to negotiate a “Grand Bargain” of entitlement reform and revenue increases to reduce the deficit. Obama dined privately with 12 Republican senators last week, before visiting Capitol Hill this week for separate meetings with Republican and Democratic caucuses in both houses of Congress. It was his first meeting with House Republicans in two years. The president reportedly spoke with lawmakers about immigration, guns, and energy policies, but above all emphasized the need to work together to create a long-term budget plan to reduce deficit spending. Republicans welcomed the overtures, with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma saying Obama was “genuinely reaching out,” and Sen. John McCain saying the conversations “could lead us to a Grand Bargain.”

But in an illustration of the wide ideological gulf between the two parties, Senate Democrats and House Republicans released separate 10-year budgets this week that took conflicting approaches to deficit reduction. A Republican budget written by Rep. Paul Ryan aimed to balance the budget by 2023 by repealing the Affordable Care Act, turning Medicare into a voucher system, and cutting $4.6 trillion in spending, mostly in aid to the poor. Democrats, meanwhile, unveiled a plan to reduce deficits by cutting $975 billion in spending and closing $975 billion in tax loopholes over 10 years. The proposals have no chance of passing, and were made as opening gambits for future negotiations.

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What the editorials said

Obama’s outreach to Republicans was “probably overdue,” said The New York Times. Wining and dining members of Congress may counteract Obama’s “well-earned reputation for aloofness,” and will prove to Republicans he’s willing to reform entitlements and cut spending if they’ll consider raising new revenue. But “presidential schmoozing” can only go so far, said The Washington Post. The two parties have a “substantive disagreement” on what role tax increases and entitlement reform should play in reducing the deficit. This could be the “last, best opportunity to cut a deal” before the 2014 election season kicks in.

“Count us as skeptical,” said The Wall Street Journal. Obama’s goal is still for Democrats to win the House in 2014, so he can govern without opposition. These meetings are likely just a “tactical feint” to convince the public he’s willing to reach across the aisle. Republicans will know he’s serious only if he puts real tax reform—with lower overall rates—and serious entitlement cuts on the table.

What the columnists said

“What’s gotten into President Obama?” said Ron Fournier in NationalJournal.com. It’s not hard to figure out why he’s suddenly wooing Republicans he previously scorned. “Much of his political capital” has vanished. His aides assumed the public would blame Republicans alone for the sequester cuts, but “they were wrong.” Obama’s approval rating has dropped to 48 percent, and Americans are losing confidence in his leadership. That’s why the White House is “waving the white flag” in its war with Congress, said Jonathan S. Tobin in CommentaryMagazine.com. Finally, Obama has learned that “relying on demagoguery alone is a formula for failure.”

Despite the widespread cynicism in Washington, I’m optimistic, said Mark Halperin in Time.com. Obama knows time is running out for him to achieve a major deficit-reduction deal that would cement his place in history, and Republican leaders really do appreciate the symbolism of being invited to the president’s table. The elusive Grand Bargain “is not just possible but likely.”

Dream on, said Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen in Politico.com. Obama blew his chance to get more tax revenue out of the Republicans when he accepted $600 billion to end the fiscal-cliff standoff in December—“a far cry from the $1.6 trillion he wants, and the $1 trillion Republicans had discussed in previous Grand Bargain talks.” Now, House Republicans heading for the 2014 elections are terrified of “having to explain not one, but two, tax increases” to conservative activists in their very conservative districts. A Grand Bargain may have been possible in December, but because of Obama’s miscalculation, it’s now a very long shot.