The big story of the moment is that President Obama has suddenly decided to talk with lesser political beings. The famously aloof President who began his second term as if the 2012 election campaign wasn’t over is inviting Members of Congress, and even some of its evil Republicans, to lunch and dinner. The question is whether this is merely a tactical feint or if Mr. Obama really wants to accomplish something in the next two years and realizes he needs Republicans to do it.
The appearance of a new bipartisanship is perfectly consistent with such a partisan 2014 strategy. The more reasonable he appears today, the better positioned he might be to blame Republicans for failure next year. Independent voters love to see politicians working together, however haplessly, so Mr. Obama may figure he has nothing to lose by dropping his Democrats-only strategy for now. He can always sandbag the GOP again later. In particular, he’d love to carve out deals in the Senate that isolate House Republicans.
Our advice to the GOP opposition in the meantime is—adapting the Reagan arms-control maxim—don’t trust but verify. Mr. Obama has repeatedly demonstrated that he can’t be trusted in backroom negotiations where he can later claim to support something he really didn’t. Republicans need to test his seriousness in the sunlight where voters can better see who is the real obstructionist.
The Wall Street Journal ponders a new kinder gentler Obama.