President Obama will continue his charm offensive tonight by hosting a select, bipartisan group of Congressional leaders at the White House for a little cocktail party. The stimulus bill will have already passed the House without much Republican support, but the more promising Senate vote is still to come, so there's more at stake here than the usual sharing of gossip and embarrassing of oneself. Oh, to be a fly on that wall: House Republicans boxing out Nancy Pelosi from joining their little conversation circle; Obama, drunk already on half a glass of wine, his arm around Mitch McConnell huddled in the corner; John Boehner complaining about something, as he so often does. And maybe once everyone gets intoxicated enough they'll lower their guards, cease the power trips and political posturing, and finally come together on a consensus bill that will truly jump-start our economy and pull us out of recession. More likely though, they'll just quietly file out once the hors d'oeuvre run out.

Obama Holds Reception for Congressional Leaders [Caucus/NYT]