"Senate Republicans welcome the President to the Capitol. He will attend Senate Republicans weekly lunch next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced. Obama will ha v e dinner Wednesday night with 11 Republican senators: Ron Johnson, John Hoeven, Pat Toomey, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Bob Corker, Kelly Ayotte, Dan Coats, Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, and Mike Johanns.
#Mind meld obams rhodes series
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But post-sequester, Obama has changed his mind. And I like a good party." A good party wouldn't stop a congressman from calling him a socialist on the House floor, he said. In a January press conference, Obama said, "With respect to this truism about me not socializing enough and patting folks on the back and all that stuff, most people who know me know I'm a pretty friendly guy. Obama scoffed at the idea that "I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld" to change GOP minds at a press conference last week. He hasn't just pushed back against criticism that he doesn't schmooze enough, he's mocked it with belittling terms meant to show that he thinks the idea is childish.
And there's good reason to be skeptical that Obama has had a sincere change of heart about the efficacy of these tactics. Or at least, the White House is waging a PR offensive to get op-ed writers to praise him for doing so. The sequester has gone into effect, and no deal has materialized, so Obama is working behind the scenes to woo people on Capitol Hill. RELATED: Why Isn't Obama Using Jedi Mind Tricks to Solve the Sequester? He is scheduling lunches and dinners and phone calls with Republicans. Obama has repeatedly indicated that he thinks that analysis is stupid. Every few weeks for the last four years, someone has published a story about how President Obama does not like to do all the chummy socializing with Congress that is necessary to make deals to pass legislation.