President-elect Barack Obama trying to make good on his promise to reach across the aisle dined with conservative pundits at George Will’s home while the New York Times waits for an opportunity to speak with the soon to be Commander in Chief.

From FishbowlNY

So!  Last night Barack Obama broke the hearts of D.C. doyennes everywhere by choosing to attend his first Washington dinner party at the home of George Will!  Talk about taking team of rivals to the extreme.  Also in attendance were Weekly Standard‘s William Kristol, New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post.  So maybe keep your enemies closer is the theme here — as everyone knows Bill Kristol responds well to being wined and dined!

Also of interest?  As a piece in Politico over the weekend pointed out, unlike President-elects of the past (including George W.), Obama has yet to hold a presser with the New York Times White House team (conservative op-eders notwithstanding!).  Michael Calerdone caught up with Times political editor Dick Stevenson to ask him about Obama’s lack of presser love.

We would certainly like it to happen,” said Times political editor Dick Stevenson, “but the days are running short at this point.”

Stevenson said that although the Times has put in multiple requests to the Obama team, and “pointed out the historical precedent for this,” they’ve had no luck securing a sit-down.

When asked about the Times requests, incoming Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that they’ve “answered more questions, from more reporters, than any transition has done in the history of the country, throughout our announcement process.”

Snap!  So maybe the conclusion to be drawn from all this is that it is time for the Times to employ the oft-used dating trick of single men and go ‘neg’ on the President-elect

It’s unlikely that the dinner with the conservatives signals any change or shift in how Obama will govern, but more of an opportunity to charm or lull his opponents into a false sense of security.

 

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