Politico: Obama Charm Offensive a Sham, Says McCarthy

After White House advisers conceded that Obama’s so-called charm offensive and meetings with Republican lawmakers were publicity stunts for the mainstream media, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the House Whip, provided more evidence that Obama’s public meetings with Republicans may be a complete sham because the president feels the outreach is beneath him. 

Discussing his interaction with Obama at last Saturday’s Gridiron Dinner to Politico, McCarthy said he tried his best to engage in conversation with Obama, but Obama was simply disinterested. 

“You guys give us too much credit. We’re not doing all that stuff you think we are,” Obama reportedly said of his “charm offensive,” according to McCarthy, before telling him, “You need me.”

McCarthy reportedly told Obama, in attempting small talk to break the ice, “I’m waiting for my dinner invitation.”

Obama had dined with a dozen Senators last week while Sen. Rand Paul was filibustering the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. 

Obama reportedly replied curtly, “I listen to Paul,” meaning Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the House Budget Chair. 

McCarthy said he walked away thinking Obama is “still a law professor,” and “he’d rather rather lecture you and put a red mark on your paper than talk to you.”  Obama’s “you need me” remarks are reflective of an arrogant Professor-in-Chief president who feels Republicans need him more than he needs them even while Obama’s approval ratings have tanked to the lowest levels in over a year. 

Obama has been criticized, most notably during the debt ceiling negotiations in 2011, for having no desire to even get to know Republicans he needed to work with to get a deal done, especially after Obama ran on a promise to unite “red” and “blue” America.

This week, Obama will continue what the mainstream media is describing as a “charm offensive” when he meets with Republican lawmakers to discuss the budget. He–and the mainstream media–will stress the importance of bipartisanship. But by all indications, the White House adviser who reportedly described the “charm offensive” as a “waste of time” and a “joke” may be correct, for it seems Obama is the one who has no desire whatsoever to even reach out to Republicans.