So, how was the dinner?

That was the question my sister asked me this morning when she read about the President-elect’s dinner over at Mr. George Will’s house. I had a nice chuckle and explained that if the base of the proverbial status totem pole is somewhere around sea-level, then I am one of those extremophiles living around a volcanic vent at the bottom of the Marianas trench.

Obama’s going to be doing lots of crossing-the-aisle meetings with conservative journalists like this, but he’ll only be meeting with the “smart” ones like Will, Kristol and Brooks. First, he understands that regular access and exposure to the Ozymandian majesty of the presidency will work its peculiar magic. And, second, he is by all accounts an exceedingly smart and well-read guy, which readily comes across when he talks to people face to face. (You mean, you love Reinhold Niebuhr too? *gulp*)

Now, “folks” like Kristol (sorry, Doug, I just couldn’t resist) will generally be a lot less likely than Brooks to ever offer any kind of praise for Obama or his policies, but that’s not what Obama’s aiming for. He’s aiming to have someone like Kristol say “The President is totally wrong, but, you know, he’s a really smart guy and it’s a valid point of view. I get where he’s coming from.” The more, shall we say, reflexive conservatives will be smarting about the fact that they never get invited to the parties and will swear their blood oaths against Obama, but this time they will do so without any intellectual backup. Meanwhile, the unified forces of smart and dumb liberals will be feted frequently by the White House.