Biden Courts Congress

Associated Press: “The pictures always make it look so presidential … but inside the Oval Office, lawmakers tell a different story, of a president so warm, so engaged, so animated — standing up, sitting down, calling on lawmakers by name, swapping stories about their hometowns — and so determined to make them get to work and get things done.”

“On their way out the door, they are offered a chocolate chip cookie, that most American of snacks, a to-go boost for the potential partnership between this White House and the Congress. … Digging deep into the roster of lawmakers, he is bringing in the subcommittee chairs handling infrastructure, the former small-town mayors with executive office know-how and those who, despite years on Capitol Hill, have never seen the inner sanctum of the Oval Office. … Sending them off with pockets full of cookies wrapped with the golden seal of the presidency doesn’t hurt, either, a little chocolate chip cookie diplomacy to carry back to the Hill.