Republicans are Frequent No-Shows at White House

January 15, 2013

Republicans are Frequent No-Shows at White House

Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." He might also have said a house that cannot watch a movie together also might not stand.

Glenn Thrush reports that House Speaker John Boehner "has been by the White House for most holiday parties -- and he played that legendary round of golf with POTUS a couple of years back -- but he declined Obama's invitation to screen 'Lincoln.' So did McConnell, along with Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME)."

"House Republicans have routinely turned down White House invites (as Democrats did under Obama's predecessor), with the high point of bipartisan schmoozing being a sparsely attended 2011 BBQ Obama threw for newly-elected Republicans after the 2010 midterms."

Even the newer lawmakers are taking part: "One Republican freshman who didn't go was Rep. Renee Ellmers whose flack said, with admirable candor, 'She declined because she chose not to go.'"

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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January 15, 2013