Are some politicians now doing the 21st century unthinkable — and slowly, gradually, tentatively, reaching across the aisle and talking with those on the other side rather than just demonizing them and keeping a distance from them? For the second time President Barack Obama (who conservatives insist is hyper partisan) and Republicans in the Senate (members of a party that a huge number of polls find that most Americans agree is hyper partisan) have sat down together for dinner:
President Obama “enjoyed a constructive and wide-ranging discussion” over dinner with Republican senators on Wednesday night, White House officials said.
During the dinner, which lasted two-and-half-hours, Obama and the senators discussed deficit reduction and immigration reform, as well as a gun control measure that the Senate will take up in the coming days.
A statement put out by the White House said Obama thanked Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) for “bringing the group together” for dinner, which included a green salad, steak and sautéed vegetables.
The White House said Obama looks forward to continuing bipartisan conversations.
“Productive discussion tonight at dinner with the President and GOP colleagues,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) tweeted Wednesday night.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was also among the lawmakers who joined Obama for his second closed-door dinner with Senate Republicans on Wednesday.
Is this part of a trend? The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty and Paul Kane:
For the first time in a while, members of the two parties — at least some of them — appear to be talking about getting things done, even without the deadline of a manufactured crisis looming.
With Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) reaching a deal to expand background checks on firearms purchases, the way appears to have been cleared for the Senate to start debate on gun-control legislation. Although their provision is not as far-reaching as what President Obama proposed after the Newtown massacre in December, he praised it as “common sense.”
Another bipartisan deal also is in the offing, as a group of eight senators nears final agreement on a plan that would give illegal immigrants a path to legal status and, potentially, citizenship.
And Wednesday night, Obama continued his outreach to Senate Republicans, dining with a dozen of them to discuss the nation’s fiscal future and the budget he put forward earlier in the day. It was the second such dinner in a matter of weeks.
So are these big developments?
Big only in they are now big deals when years ago people breaking bread instead of 24/7 trying to break each other’s partisan necks, or Dems and Republicans compromising were a matter of course — and, in fact, the way the United States has flourished and grown with often uneasy partisan cooperation and communication that produced solid policies. But it’s been harder in the age of social media, political bases that consider compromising “caving,” and a huge political entertainment machine that makes big bucks by offering partisan news and commentary that hinges on demonizing the other side and downplaying the failings of its own side.
So I say “ditto” on this:
Either way, it was a sign of how low expectations have sunk in Washington that any of these developments could be heralded as a breakthrough.
After all, the Senate will now debate a measure that nine out of 10 Americans say they want.
Bending on immigration is a matter of survival for Republicans, who know their hard-line stance has put them at odds with an increasingly diverse country.
And dinners such as the one at the White House on Wednesday used to be commonplace back when it was expected that the two parties could engage civilly and respectfully, no matter their differences on the issues.
The operative phrase is “back when.”
Can we all see the day within a decade or two when “back when” will mean the end of hyperpartisanship, a huge media political entertainment machine controlling the way our politics operates — or, perhaps more accurately, doesn’t operate?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.