Today, President Obama conducted the last official news conference of his first term, where much of the discussion centered around the next fiscal go 'round that could get intense — the debate about raising the debt ceiling level.
But among all the policy questions, perhaps the most interesting query came at the end of the presser from New York Times reporter Jackie Calmes. Calmes asked Obama about something that has been said and written about the president — from both Republicans and Democrats — so frequently, it must be valid: Is it true that unlike Bill Clinton, or LBJ, this president doesn't really like to socialize with members of Congress? That he has little to no relationships with anybody on Capitol Hill? In other words, that he's anti-social.
Obama seemed hurt by the thought.
With respect to this truism about me not socializing enough and patting folks on the back and all that stuff, most people who know me know I'm — I'm a pretty friendly guy. And I like a good party. And you know, the truth is that, you know, when I was in the Senate, I had great relationships over there, and up until the point that I became president, this was not an accusation that you heard very frequently.
Obama followed up for a few more minutes, even bringing up his new friend Charlie Crist, saying his unpopularity with Republicans after the infamous hug in 2009 "testifies to that, and I think a lot of folks say, well, you know, if we look like we're being too cooperative or too chummy with the president, that might cause us problems. That might be an excuse for us to get a challenge from somebody in a primary. So that tends to be the challenge."
The comments led to a Twitter storm, with people making fun of Obama's complaint about being lonely in the White House.
This article appears in Jan 10-16, 2013.