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.'”