McConnell Skips Obama Dinner, Eats With Federalist Society

[jefferson_dem]

McConnell Skips Obama Dinner, Eats With Federalist Society

Sam Stein contributed reporting.



WASHINGTON -- On the day that Republican leaders were supposed to have a bipartisan meeting and an intimate dinner with President Obama, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spent several hours schmoozing with the conservative Federalist Society -- including attending their annual dinner.

Republicans collectively backed out of the dinner with Obama, saying they were too busy, but McConnell said during a 15-minute morning speech to the conservative group that he planned to attend their annual dinner Thursday night, featuring a keynote address by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

McConnell's morning speech focused on Republican efforts to declare March's health care reform unconstitutional, and he sought to enlist the powerful Federalist network in that aim.

"I really admire this mission," he said. "I think it is so important, and will be joining you -- along with my wife, Bush Elaine Chao, at dinner tonight, so you'll be seeing more of us."

The White House's original invitation was for a bipartisan meeting and then an intimate dinner in the president's private residence.

Obama spokesmen have generally avoided portraying the move as a deliberate brush-off by Republicans.An official statement from the White House ascribed the dinner's move to Nov. 30 to "scheduling conflicts," and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in an off-camera briefing on Thursday, "Sen. McConnell does not make it a regular practice of showing us his daily schedule. ... Again, we are looking forward to sitting down with leaders on both sides on November 30."

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/18/mcconnell-obama-dinner-federalist-society_n_785717.html?ref=tw

[TwilightGardener]

1. They fed him lettuce, and put him back in his terrarium.

[polichick]

2. Why, oh why does the prez keep reaching out to those fuckers?! nt

[WestSeattle2]

8. Just so he can say he tried. I do the same thing at work. I don't give

a flying fuck about many of my subordinates, but I pretend to care. It's all a facade to maintain decorum in the workplace and present myself as reasonable and accommodating to more senior management. Senior managers get to that level by playing the same game. If you lash out and speak your mind too frequently, you're stuck in the mail room for 40 years. Your choice.

In 2012 he'll be able to point to all the times he tried to reach out to repug leaders and they blew him off. Some voters may care, some won't. He's just managing perception.

[polichick]

10. The perception among most is that he's a pushover - imo he needs to...

...manage perception better than that. He IS the senior management!

[gateley]

3. Wish I was a cook in that kitchen... nt

[ruggerson]

4. His wife's name is Bush?

um. okay.

[kentuck]

11. That had to be a misprint?

He wouldn't say that.......would he??

[JTFrog]

14. She was a Bush appointee.

I think they just left a word out.

:shrug:

[muntrv]

5. Barack, stop working with these assholes!

[Zoeisright]

6. Who'd want to see that chinless, lipless asshole eat?

Bleh. I lose my appetite just looking at him.

[treestar]

7. Asshole would not have done that to a white President

[applegrove]

9. They are so contemptuous of their enemy obama. And they teach their

followers to be the same way. What a bunch of assholes and psychopaths.

[rasputin1952]

12. The Wonderful World of Politics...

McConnell is trying to upstage the president, he comes off as a jerk. The R "base" loves this, so he does it to "make a point", but it will come back to bite him in the ass. The next step, when they meet, he'll try to introduce something and will be ignored. He had a chance, and blew it. The man is a complete joke anyway, I don't think many take McConnell or Boehner seriously; they can do damage, but only minor damage.

What counts is that the WH stand above the fray, and make this McConnell's cross to bear by basically coming out when McConnell makes a proposal and essentially ignoring it.
Complexities abound in the political world...;)

[Fruittree]

13. They "collectively backed out of the dinner with Obama"

Do these people all share one brain? Can not one of them for once act independently? I can't see how everyone can't see this...

[BrklynLiberal]

15. -puke-..I mean REALLY !!! .... -PUKE!-