I really do look forward to him calmly pointing out that a lot of what they're wanting is IN the bill already. And then allowing them to make themselves look like fools for voting against the majority of what they want. I wrote a recent letter to my members of Congress and used the whole Love and Logic thing: it's YOU'RE choice. You can choose to work for the people's best interests or you can campaign. You can choose to do what your constituents need or you can continue to be in the way.

Jennifer

I think the President's move is sheer political genius. He painted them into a corner with the Q&A, and now he's not letting them out of it.

For the Republicans, it is now engage or die. And by dying, I mean, if they refuse to engage, Obama has won by exposing their "party-first" approach to governing, which, mind you, is EXACTLY the wrong thing to be saying to Independents right now.

The last thing either party should want at this moment in time is to be seen by Independents as sacrificing American progress for the sake of the party. That is the kiss of death at the polls.

I think that next time the Republicans will be prepared with better spin control. There whole script will be "We happily met with the President and he wouldn't meet us halfway."

They are not at all interested in playing to any audience but their own, and they know that audience will believe literally anything but the truth.

@Nanotyrannus, you're absolutely right. But at this point that's fine. Their base isn't the group who needs reassurance that Washington is changing and that Obama is bringing that change. This is for the people who aren't party-loyal and who voted for him because they want to see this kind of thing. Nothing he does is going to come close to satisfying the base that is supportive of the Republican obstruction. As for the far left who may be irked by this, they're going to take it however they feel that day. This is who Obama is and he's staying true to what he has always been about.

Jennifer

That's right. The Republicans have said that the Democrats have shut them out and are doing back room deals. They completely controlled the narrative on health care. This is all about taking it back. I think this maneuvering is all for the independents. The far right is unreachable. The far left won't be satisfied with anything other than Instant Microwaved Liberal Perfection™.

Vive Le independents!

I agree that we're after the independents a bit, but the Republicans often get to dominate the narrative with their five syllable sound bites while Democrats flounder with long, drawn-out explanations for why the Republicans are wrong. We get a few bright stars like Grayson and Wiener, but on shows like Morning Joe, they are treated as if they have to defend their position while conservatives get their positions accepted as the Will of the American People, without challenge or analysis.

I'm all for Obama hammering the Republican's tits and all that, but wouldn't just be easier to skip this step and get to passing the bill?

Adding -
I think this time, too, the Republicans, the lippier ones, are going to go at the President hard. They're going to try to build some anti-establishment "Ain't gonna let no negro talk to me that way" conservative street cred. They're already ballsy enough to openly embrace the Birther meme on national television, and call the president a liar during a joint session.

They got their asses handed to them by someone that they believe is far, far beneath them. They have to try and get the upper hand on this.

That douchebag Eric Cantor has already relesased a statement and this should play well with the American people. Here's part of his statemnt according to Greg Sargent:

"After going it alone on health care reform for nearly a year, President Obama has decided he wants to bring Republicans into the conversation. Here’s the problem: unless the President and Speaker Pelosi are willing to scrap their government take over and hit the reset button, there’s not much to talk about."

This is a non-starter. Hopefully, the President will remind them once again, that the Village Voice headline about Republicans having won a 41 seat majority with Scott Brown's win was satire!

Does Cantor think the majority of Americans who voted for Obama will see this as a good faith negotiation tactic? To lie about being shut out of the negotiations and now try to author legislation as the minority party? Nice going Cantor but, the rest of the country is not nearly as stupid as those who vote Republican!

And yes, when the Republican Senators start reading their talkiing point questions, they will be tuned out. If the Dems are smart they'll bring along a copy of Frank Luntz's talking points for killing healthcare and the new ones for financial reform. Actually, if the Dems were really smart they'd start the meeting off by reading some of the talking points Luntz suggested for to the GOP on healthcare. This could put the Republicans on the spot. I'm sure the first question and all the others will be littered with talking points! The Dems can blunt them and screw up the phony narrative.

Bob, this is the very sort of strategy that's been derided as "11-Dimensional Chess" since about last March.

My mon had a saying that I'm sure some of your moms did which was "I can show you better than I can tell you." Those who want Dems to work with Republicans strike me as stupid. It may sould harsh but, what else would you call it. If everyone knows that Bush and Republicans screwed the country, why would Americans want Dems to work with them? Perhaps the public needs to see just how awful their ideas are and how they don't have anything to do with them. Tort reform won't increase coverage for anyone. It's just a GOP talking point.

I'm hoping that the Pres is playing a deeper game and this is the groundwork for the Dems going it alone.

As frustrating as it is for us impatient lefties to watch, it's probably pretty smart. The Rethugs will prove with their own actions and their own words why their plans have not been taken into account--because their plans have no substance. That's what came out of the Pres' Q&A with House Rethugs. I firmly believe that will be what comes out of this meeting.

And it will provide something to both the middle and right side of the spectrum. The middle and Independents want to see that all ideas are getting vetted with the most practical winning--even though I think we could argue that's been happening, this will put an end to any but the most extreme saying that it hasn't happened.

And for those on the right (the avg right winger, not the party apparatchiks), they were angry because they felt Washington wasn't listening and they wanted more time to be a part of the debate. Well they're getting it, even if they don't deserve it (as ill informed as they tend to be).

PS: For those of you who worry that they'll come out too aggressive and disrespectful....I say let them, in fact, we hope they do. The Pres will maintain his cool and respond with...'that's why it's impossible to take you seriously....'. He will look presidential and they'll look like petulant children TO THOSE THAT MATTER--to the rational, reasonable voter who believes in civil discourse and a loyal opposition.

It is infuriating that although we see it as good political cover, the firebaggers see it as evidence of further Obama perfidy, like everything else. He wants to be reelected? An outrage! It's cloudy this morning? All his fault!

Their only possibilities are, "The President's stoopid" or "He's willing to compromise even more." There seems to be no room for, "The President's sick of this crap and let the GOP know that it's their choice if they want to participate; he's moving on regardless."

The republicans cant get away with it this time. The reaching out to them has been too public for them to claim there was no bipartisanship. They can go ahead and claim it, but its not going to work. Its shockingly aparent, even for the non-engaged people who dont watch very closely.

IMPORTANT

I saw this on Political Wire:

The Republican Ideas Already in the Health Care Bill

Ezra Klein: "At this point, I don't think it's well understood how many of the GOP's central health-care policy ideas have already been included as compromises in the health-care bill. But one good way is to look at the GOP's Solutions for America homepage, which lays out its health-care plan in some detail. It has four planks. All of them -- yes, you read that right -- are in the Senate health-care bill."

@eve, read my very first comment above. I'm a genius, aren't I? :)

Jennifer

@eve, I was about to write the exact same thing. The President should just open his remarks at the summit by reading Ezra's post verbatim. The republicans have been crying for months that the current bill is a far left government take over of health care, when in fact it's about as centrist and bipartisan in its current form as it gets. Ezra's 6th point was especially telling:

"And finally, we shouldn't forget the compromises that have been the most painful for Democrats, and the most substantive. This is a private-market plan. Not only is single-payer off the table, but at this point, so too is the public option. The thing that liberals want most in the world has been compromised away."

From the Wonk Room at Think Progress 'Top 10 Reasons Why Republicans Should Support The House Health Bill'
It was written back in Oct so it deals with only the House bill, but it's an eye-opener.