The Morning After A Kick Ass Rock Concert

Man I still feel good today after watching Obama go off like that yesterday.  If you haven't seen it, take the opportunity to do so.

Time to make the rounds on the reactions.  HuffPo's Sam Stein:

What resulted was what one Democratic strategist described as "amazing theater" -- certainly for cable news. Standing on a stage, looking down at his Republican questioners, Obama assumed the role of responsible adult to the GOP children, or, at the very least, of a college professor teaching and lecturing a room full of students.

Taylor Marsh:

Every single person who has refused to give Pres. Obama a pass on his lack of leadership, inability to get beyond platitudes and speeches, as well as pushing him to engage in a transparent way beyond slogans, was finally served substance today, with Obama actually delivering it. Pres. Obama’s engagement with Republicans was an unprecedented performance. It also has the potential to be a game changer.

(More after the jump...)

The NY Times:

At a moment when the country is as polarized as ever, Mr. Obama traveled to a House Republican retreat on Friday to try to break through the partisan logjam that has helped stall his legislative agenda. What ensued was a lively, robust debate between a president and the opposition party that rarely happens in the scripted world of American politics.

The Washington Post:

What resulted was an unprecedented public debate between the president and a group of lawmakers who have effectively opposed nearly every move he has made. The give-and-take more closely resembled Great Britain's Question Time -- in which members of Parliament question the prime minister -- than anything in congressional history.  

The LA Times:

The president's appearance at an annual retreat for House Republicans was intended to be a gesture of bipartisanship. Instead, it devolved into a respectful but surprisingly blunt exercise in political finger-pointing, defensiveness and gamesmanship.

The Wall Street Journal:

At the House Republicans' annual issues retreat, Mr. Obama, at times combative and confident, challenged Republicans to find ways to work with his administration and Democrats in Congress and set aside the rhetoric that defined much of the political debate of the past year.

USA Today:

It wasn't exactly sweetness and light when President Obama visited with House Republicans today in an extraordinary Q-and-A session that exposed their stark political differences.

Politico:

In a lively Q-and-A with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore, Obama showcased the campaign skills that won him the Oval Office – he was cerebral, combative, cool and quick. 

CNN:

President Obama and House GOP leaders promised greater efforts to step back from the partisan brink Friday, acknowledging that Washington's toxic political climate has made it increasingly tough to tackle major problems.

FOX News:

The president and GOP House members took turns questioning and sometimes lecturing each other for more than hour at a Republican gathering in Baltimore. The Republicans agreed to let TV cameras inside, resulting in an extended, point-by-point interchange that was almost unprecedented in U.S. politics, except perhaps during presidential debates.

ABC News:
The president was questioned on a whole range of issues, from the economy to health care to North Korea. He stood his ground. Obama charged that Republicans were portraying health care overhaul as a "Bolshevik plot."
CBS News:

Perhaps the most striking moment in the president's appearance – which was reminiscent of a Prime Minister appearing before the British Parliament, though far more polite – was when the president complained that some Republicans had suggested his policies, which he cast as relatively moderate, were in service of a "Bolshevik plot."

There was some applause following that comment – apparently not an endorsement of the president's point, but rather the notion that he was, indeed, a Bolshevik. The moment seemed to point to the futility of the president's message – the GOP is not suddenly going to start portraying Mr. Obama and the Democrats as moderate realists, especially when Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts suggests the current strategy has been working just fine.

and finally, The Daily Caller (out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the Anti-Huffington Post had to say.)

If Republicans needed evidence that 2010 will hardly be the political cakewalk some expect, President Obama reminded them on Friday with an aggressive appearance before pointed questions from House GOP lawmakers.

Well, we can't all be heroes, I guess.  Still, it was a hell of a thing.  I think it refueled a lot of empty tanks out there of people who had come to be rather disappointed with the President.

But that needs to be translated into action in Congress.  He will ultimately be judged by what others do, not what he himself does.  It's important to keep that in mind.