XPost: dc.urban-planning, wa.politics   
   From: dance@moonlight.biz   
      
   President Barack Obama's abrupt shift to a schmooze offensive –   
   dining and visiting with Republican lawmakers – reflects a need   
   for some resolution in the budget wars so he can move on to   
   other priorities like gun control and immigration that could   
   define his second term.   
      
   A drop in his approval ratings in recent weeks and a new round   
   of media questions about his scant socializing with members of   
   Congress have also likely put pressure on Obama to start talking   
   to his political foes.   
      
   "He has a limited amount of time to tackle the items on his   
   agenda, like immigration, increasing the minimum wage and gun   
   control," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, who recently stepped down as   
   deputy White House chief of staff and is now a Brookings   
   Institution guest scholar.   
      
   "He can't waste time on a protracted battle over the budget and   
   sequester," said DeParle. "That should be left to the Congress   
   to figure out."   
      
   With another budget deadline looming, he needs to get a deal   
   completed so he can seek legislative approval of other items on   
   his second-term agenda. This year is key because by year's end   
   Congress will start to look toward the 2014 midterm election.   
      
   White House aides say the socializing came about because Obama   
   felt there had been a break in the crisis atmosphere that   
   gripped Washington in the weeks leading up to automatic spending   
   cuts, known as the sequester, that kicked in on March 1.   
      
   But beyond their statements, they are contending with an   
   unfavorable trend in his approval ratings.   
      
   That's because he's a lying black asshat.   
      
   http://www.indianexpress.com/news/barack-obamas-shift-to-   
   schmooze-offensive-reflects-political-reality/1085056/   
      
            
      
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