CURL: Flustered Obama a 'wee' bit touchy during dog days

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By Joseph Curl POLITICAL THEATER

Mired in the summer of his discontent, President Obama on Thursday coined a new phrase for the absurdity of a Washington August, when lawmakers and lobbyists vacation outside the Beltway but pollsters and chatterers go right on polling and chattering.

"There's something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-wee'd up," the world's most powerful man observed. "I don't know what it is, but that's what happens."

So, it made perfect sense that, during wee wee'd Washington's "silly season," the president took to the conservative radio airwaves to declare that he wants a bipartisan fix for America's health care system and that a federal takeover is just "an option." Mr. Obama then spent some time with a group of die-hard campaign supporters, telling them, "We're going to win this debate. ... Let's go get 'em!"

Just seven months in office, the legendarily cool Mr. Obama is in the throes of a summer meltdown. Massive opposition to his sweeping proposal to overhaul America's health care system has prompted the normally unflappable president to lose his cool, and, on a bizarre but blisteringly hot day in the nation's capital, to strike back at the far right and stoke up the far left.

The day opened with Mr. Obama sitting down with Michael Smerconish in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, an appropriate venue for a presidential interview with a conservative radio talk-show host who broke ranks and endorsed the Democratic candidate in 2008.

Under a portrait of George Washington and in front of a cozy fireplace, the two engaged in a 25-minute diplomatic exchange, with the friendly host firing off courteous questions. But the president took the rare opportunity to revive charges of a right-wing conspiracy -- just the kind of rhetorical overkill that was used by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the height of the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Mr. Obama referred himself to Mrs. Clinton's earlier woes trying, as he is now, to pass a big, complicated health care overhaul.

"I think early on, a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, 'Look, let's not give him a victory, maybe we can have a replay of 1993, '94, when [Bill] Clinton came in, he failed on health care and then we won in the midterm elections and we got the majority.' And I think there are some folks who are taking a page out that playbook," he said.

But, mindful of his audience, Mr. Obama said he would "love to have more Republicans engaged and involved in this process," and even said he had sought input from the party now dwelling somewhere in the deep wilderness.

"As far as negotiations with Republicans, my attitude has always been, Let's see if we can get this done with some consensus," he said, seemingly unaware that the Republicans appear to be just a wee bit wee-wee'd off at him.