Obama does very well at this sort of thing.  Accomplishments, not so much.  YAWN.  Call me when HCR is done.  Otherwise, this should have been done 8 months ago.

I think it didn't accomplish much , infact I think the republicans left the summit in a better place while the democrats were saved from a disaster by Obama who performed merely  adequately .

You can use MSNBC has a yardstick , they cut away from the whole thing barely an hour into it to show " Caught on Camera " , talk about being a News Channel...If the republicans were losing the debate MSNBC would have run the whole thing and would have had a 3 hr special later that night with Olberman , Maddow and Tingle all singing the praise of Obama and democrats as they did after the Republican Conference . Fox showed nearly the whole thing and have been crowing about how great the republicans are , they would have cut away from it like they did when Obama was really taking it to the republicans at their conference ...It is all predictable...

My thoughts:

1. Yes, Obama excels at these sort of things. That's why he called the meeting. The Democrats scored a point just by making the Republicans cry uncle and show up.

2. I think the Republicans came better prepared. They stuck to their talking points and focus group tested messages for their constituency. But then again, their task is far easier: survivie the day. The democrats' charge (e.g., win) is infinitely harder. There were some missed opportunities by Obama and the Democrats to nail the Republicans on their hypocrisy. I give the Republicans a small point on the winning the debate per se.

3. Not to call you out specifically. You know I have great respect for you. But the Obama who showed up today was not the conciliator in chief or weak leader. I agree there has been a leadership brown out in the Obama White House. But today, he was very authoritarian. I felt he made it very clear who the boss is. Look how small everybody else in the room looked and sounded compared to him? McCain? The two were on equal footing 18 months ago, and McCain (while bringing up valid points IMO) looked like a toadie and sounded whipped. Many Presidents before (Regan, Kennedy) had a moment where they seized the perception of leadership. I hope this is his moment. It's about time.

4. Nothing really changes. I couldn't even follow all 6 hours. I imagine the regular public had less of an appetite. The differences between the two sides are just too great. What does the public see? A last offer for negotiation and the effort resurrected. That's maybe a win for the White House.

5. Nothing really changes II. Obama needs the special interests and the Legislature far more than they need him in this effort. It's a position of weakness he must negotiate from, despite the perception of leadership. He is still over a barrel, but maybe less so by reviving the effort in the mind of the public.

Let's just get this done.

We have enough shitty Republicans with our three, Kline, Bachmann, and Paulsen. We don't need to add Camp:)

From what I've seen on it, the talking points, the GOP (start over with us involved) has a better standing. I really don't get the point of letting them grandstand their talking points. I can understand why Obama was frustrated with McCain.  Well, I guess my middle to end of Feb date has been blown, so I owe a drink to someone.

Uh Jerome,

From what I've read at DKos, Obama did quite well in taking these characters down a notch or two, but then again, maybe he'd struggle in one-on-one against Greg Dreiling.

but hey, you're the big time political consultant.

A good article via yahoo regarding the claims and facts from yesterdays summit. I would like to see the cost containments fully included and enacted. I would also say that the mandates have to be jettisoned if there is no guaranteed way to ensure that all who want insurance can purchase it affordably. The first goal of this bill shoudl be cost containment and reduction, once you weed out the waste in the system nd lower costs, you can be in a position to offer coverage. This bill doesnt adequately do that.

What in this bill actually provides for affordable coverage?