President Obama Delivers Big In Baltimore

President Obama spoke today at the House GOP caucus retreat in Baltimore, MD.  Following some brief remarks, the president engaged with Republican members, answering questions for approximately an hour and a half. 

As Sam Stein reports, Obama killed it:

President Obama traveled to a House Republican retreat in Baltimore on Friday and delivered a performance that was at once defiant, substantive and engaging. For roughly an hour and a half, Obama lectured GOP leaders and, in a protracted, nationally-televised question-and-answer session, deflected their policy critiques, corrected their misstatements and scolded them for playing petty politics.

It was the type of performance that Obama's supporters have long demanded and that his own aides have been eager to deliver. The question-and-answer session at the end wasn't initially supposed to be broadcast, but the White House pressured GOP leadership to bring the cameras in. They knew the optics it would generate, a source with knowledge of the planning relayed. Hours before the event began, Republican leaders finally relented.

Marc Ambinder adds:

Accepting the invitation to speak at the House GOP retreat may turn out to be the smartest decision the White House has made in months. Debating a law professor is kind of foolish: the Republican House Caucus has managed to turn Obama's weakness -- his penchant for nuance -- into a strength. Plenty of Republicans asked good and probing questions, but Mike Pence, among others, found their arguments simply demolished by the president. (By the way: can we stop with the Obama needs a teleprompter jokes?)

During the session, the president refuted false claims about the recovery act and chided members who take credit for stimulus projects at home while railing against them in Washington.  He answered a call for "across-the-board tax cuts" by noting that he can't lower taxes on billionaires and balance the budget at the same time.  He swatted health care lies and faulted Republicans for acting like he wants to enact "some Bolshevik plot," then turning around and blaming him for their lack of cooperation. 

After the show was over, Republican aides told Luke Russert that it was a mistake to let the cameras in the room.  Indeed, it was such a shellacking that Fox News cut away (from a Republican meeting!) twenty minutes before it ended. 

Baltimore hasn't seen drama this good since The Wire.