Obama's strategy in budget debate

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Just wanted to post an interesting article I came across in the WSJ; some staffers an sources in Congress/WH opened up about what was going on behind the scenes

Obama's Budget Aim: Appearing Above Fray

The White House's high-risk strategy as the budget debate dragged on was simple: Less is more.

Over the past six weeks, Americans heard President Barack Obama talk nearly as much about his graying hair as about a possible government shutdown. He didn't address that from the presidential podium until Tuesday.

With a deal reached late Friday between the White House and congressional leaders, the White House hope was that the president, having stepped in late in the game in a bid to break the impasse, could polish his self-styled image as the only adult in Washington. The aim also was to boost his standing with independent voters in the same week he kicked off his re-election effort.

But a strategy that was largely hands-off until the last moments carried risks. It could alienate Democrats, some of whom felt Mr. Obama was keener to get a deal than stand up for their priorities. Others were irritated at being scolded like errant children.

The strategy also exposed Mr. Obama to criticism that he waited too long to get engaged.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this week found 20% of voters would blame Mr. Obama for a shutdown, the same percentage as congressional Democrats. Republicans, who would be blamed by 37% of voters.

As the deadline for a shutdown loomed, the parties traded blame. "I like the president personally. We get along well," House Speaker John Boehner said this week. "But the president isn't leading."

Mr. Obama sought to shift blame onto Republicans as well, though with greater subtly than congressional Democrats. The White House repeatedly stressed this week that if all parties were "reasonable" then a deal would be achieved, implying that Mr. Obama was being agreeable and Republicans were not. The president also insisted that conservative-backed amendments concerning abortion and health care had no place in budget negotiations, setting up Republicans to be accused of shutting down the government over ideological issues.

Mr. Obama's aides insist they brought the president in at the right moment—just as Americans were starting to pay attention—and did so forcefully enough to convey the message that he did all he could.

"Our goal here in the budget fight is to get a deal and then move on from it," said a senior administration official in explaining the strategy. "Unless it helps us, we don't do it."

Once they started negotiating at the White House, Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would meet alone for a short while, before they were joined by a small group of staff members. In some meetings Mr. Obama pointed out how he had gone up on the number while Mr. Boehner explained what his caucus needed.

Behind the scenes, the White House was much more involved than Mr. Obama's schedule let on. Mr. Obama delegated negotiations to his aides—namely Chief of Staff William Daley and Jacob Lew, the Office of Management and Budget director.

Mr. Daley offered the first significant Democratic offer on budget cuts—$30 billion—congressional aides said. He also offered a subsequent bump to $33 billion.

Vice President Joe Biden, a former senator who retains a close relationship with many lawmakers, spoke with Mr. Reid, Mr. Boehner and other key lawmakers on nearly 20 occasions over the past six weeks, according to the White House. He publicly addressed negotiations only once.

On Monday morning, with a government shutdown looming at the end of the week, two of Mr. Obama's lead budget negotiators, Rob Nabors and Mr. Lew, reported in the 7:30 a.m. senior staff meeting there had been no progress over the weekend. Mr. Obama's aides discussed how to involve the president in a debate he had largely avoided.

Up to this point, he had discussed the budget with Mr. Reid four times and with Mr. Boehner just twice, on March 4 and April 2. According to a person in the meeting, the president's advisers decided Mr. Obama would invite Messrs. Boehner and Reid to the Oval Office on Tuesday.

They agreed that absent progress, Mr. Obama would publicly discuss the negotiations for the first time.

When the hour-long meeting didn't move the discussion toward a deal, Mr. Plouffe walked through the West Wing to the office of communications director Dan Pfeiffer. We should prepare to put him out, he told Mr. Pfeiffer.

The president appeared in the White House briefing room that afternoon and urged the parties involved to "act like grownups."

The line, delivered in an exasperated tone, was poorly received by Senate Democrats who vented about it during their Tuesday meeting, according to a Democrat briefed on the event.

"If you want to blame Republicans that's one thing," the Democrat said, but likening Democrats to misbehaving children didn't go over well "particularly when until this week no one had any sense that the administration was immersed in this issue."

During the debate over Mr. Obama's health-care revamp, the president held private meetings with individual members of Congress. But he not do that on the budget. As recently as Wednesday he talked about negotiations as if he were merely an observer.

"Democrats and Republicans need to get together, work through their differences," Mr. Obama said during a trip to Pennsylvania.