Obama: Republicans privately 'agree' with me

CNN ^ | Aug 23, 2013 | Dan Merica and Bryan Koenig

[Innovative]

President Barack Obama argued some Republicans secretly side with him on wanting to avoid a government shutdown, but they're afraid they may face backlash from the conservative right.

"Sometimes they say to me privately, 'I agree with you, but I'm worried about a primary from, you know, somebody in the Tea Party back in my district,' or, 'I'm worried about what Rush Limbaugh is going to say about me on the radio,'" Obama said in an exclusive interview with CNN "New Day" anchor Chris Cuomo.

[Theodore R.]

Yes, but you just can’t tell the uninformed Republican primary voters the truth. They aren’t listening, too busy making money.

[Theodore R.]

I read that LBJ enjoyed socializing with Republicans so he could boast of his bipartisan support. He was quite deferential to his old rival John Tower, often gave him rides to D.C. and Austin via Air Force One. He once told Tower, “John, you have done more for me on Vietnam than my whole damn party!” And he loved ol’ Everett Dirksen like an older brother. Of course, Ev caved when he was called upon to do so. Just like Ev’s son-in-law Howard Baker, and Baker’s successor, Bob Dole, and now the same ol’, same ol’ McC of KY.

[Theodore R.]

Doing as you propose would strengthen RINOs; they would never again fear losing a primary.

[Maceman]

Doing as you propose would strengthen RINOs; they would never again fear losing a primary.

They would never fear losing a primary, but they would never again win an election. The RINOs could not afford to lose the base and ever hope to be elected again.

[Brad from Tennessee]

LBJ's fixer and bag man, Bobby Baker, wrote a book in the early 1980’s that detailed LBJ's style in the Senate. Getting votes often entailed handing off satchels of cash to lawmakers. But he also had a great talent for persuasion on other levels. The Washington press corps always carried a resentment against Johnson because he wasn't JFK. LBJ was a political powerhouse who remains, at least for me, one of the most fascinating political figures in U.S. history.