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The Rose Garden: Obama Becomes the Private Communicator

Nov. 16, 12 a.m.

For months, President Barack Obama was like an ATM for the media, dispensing answers to questions with what seemed like just the push of a button.

The Rose Garden: Meet the OFA, Obama’s Door-to-Door Sales Team

Nov. 9, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama’s 13 million-strong campaign e-mail list has been transformed into a mass political operation dedicated to enacting the president’s agenda and apparently poised to help elect Democratic candidates and eventually re-elect the president.

The Rose Garden: Obama and His Team Throwing Some Elbows

Nov. 2, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama, criticized in some quarters for appearing too passive, is projecting a very different aura of late, as he and his aides pick fights all over town while the president transforms himself into the very picture of a wartime leader.

The Rose Garden: Kerry Is Just One in the Hill’s ‘Shadow’ Cabinet

Oct. 26, 12 a.m.

Yes, yes, it was for the good of the country, the struggle against the Taliban and the cause of democracy in, well, Afghanistan. We all know that Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) success in persuading a grumbling, uncompliant Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reverse himself and submit to a runoff election was no more than a selfless effort to pitch in.

The Rose Garden: Obama’s Moves Could Rattle Key Constituencies

Oct. 19, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama is playing a perilous political game with some of his core constituencies, pursuing policies that threaten to diminish the enthusiasm of groups that helped put him into office.

The Rose Garden: Lobbyists Stew After Being Bounced From Boards

Oct. 5, 12 a.m.

A tide of anger and dismay is rippling down K Street as the Obama administration implements a new policy limiting the roles of lobbyists on federal advisory committees.

The Rose Garden: Obama’s New Messaging Accentuates Positive

Sept. 21, 12 a.m.

'Fired up! Ready to go! Fired up! Ready to go!”
No, this not the triumphant call of some backyard chef starting up his Weber grill. It’s the zippy new refrain of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul drive. Obama has lately revived this presidential campaign slogan, using it to conclude his appearances and leaving his audiences in a state of health care reform evangelism.

The Rose Garden: Obama Is Meeting the Press at a Historic Rate

Sept. 14, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama so far has been one of the most accessible presidents in modern history, holding as many or more press conferences as his predecessors and sitting for scores of interviews with reporters, according to statistics due to be published today on whitehousetransitionproject.org.

The Rose Garden: Public Disdain for D.C. Rains on Obama’s Parade

Aug. 3, 12 a.m.

Welcome to Washington, Mr. Obama.
President Barack Obama was able to run an insurgency presidential campaign under the banner of “change” for legitimate reasons: Though a sitting Senator, he had spent not much more than two years in the city. Elected in 2004, he took office in January 2005, but by January 2007 was running for president full time, racing around the country scouring for votes.

The Rose Garden: Administration Exaggerates Alliances on Reform

July 27, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama and his aides have repeatedly suggested that major health organizations are with them on health care reform, but an analysis of these groups’ positions suggests few are completely on board and several may oppose the president in the end.

The Rose Garden: Obama’s Labor Relations Appear on the Upswing

July 20, 12 a.m.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) last week was publicly stomping his feet that President Barack Obama had made life difficult by telling him to forget about taxing employee health benefits in order to fund health care reform.

The Rose Garden: GOP Finds Weapons in Obama Team’s Words

July 13, 12 a.m.

A series of White House message flubs in recent days have provided openings for Republicans to try to build momentum on the communications front and exploit

The Rose Garden: White House Enlists Troops From K Street

July 6, 12 a.m.

Months after instituting tough new rules designed to limit the influence of lobbyists on the administration, the White House has a growing and thriving relationship with K Street, though not one that appears to violate promises that President Barack Obama made to curtail influence peddling.

The Rose Garden: White House Strategy on Climate, Health Bills Comes Into Focus

June 15, 12 a.m.

Health care reform and a climate-change-fighting energy bill have always topped President Barack Obama’s priority list. But which one should move first — and which one was really Obama’s first priority — has caused some confusion on Capitol Hill.

The Rose Garden: Earmarks Won’t Spur Appropriations Vetoes

June 8, 12 a.m.

As the appropriations season gets under way, Congress is in control when it comes to preserving its ability to write earmarks, despite President Barack Obama’s vow to limit the practice.

The Rose Garden: Obama, Foes Unleash Messages on Health

June 1, 12 a.m.

The White House is opting for a “positive message” strategy on its health care overhaul, doing little so far to directly engage the emerging plan by conservatives to characterize President Barack Obama’s proposals as a path toward rationed care.

The Rose Garden: Obama Backed Off Social Security Push

May 18, 12 a.m.

The White House quietly sought to get the ball rolling on overhauling Social Security earlier this year, but it either abandoned or significantly downgraded the process under pressure from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and outside liberal interest groups, according to sources familiar with the stalled effort.

The Rose Garden: Obama Aides Lay Groundwork for Health Reform

May 11, 12 a.m.

Even though health care reform still hovers just below the radar, White House personnel are fully engaged in laying the groundwork for an expected summertime debate over some version of the overhaul President Barack Obama promoted during his campaign.

The Rose Garden: Tensions Emerging Between Obama, Hill Allies

May 4, 12 a.m.

Areas of tension are opening up between President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats on a variety of fronts as Democratic factions, coveting the chance to realize long-held dreams, want to make sure Obama does it right.

The Rose Garden: Bush-Era Issues Trump Obama Spin

April 27, 12 a.m.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs can be a masterful performer on the podium, redefining tough questions into ones he likes better, responding to others at length in his Alabama cadence — without necessarily providing an actual answer — while on other occasions parsing out some nuggets of valuable information. And the Obama communications team has already absorbed the successful strategy — originally perfected by President Ronald Reagan — of spoon-feeding a daily message to the clamoring press.

The Rose Garden: Obama on a Record Pace for Nominations

April 20, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama is setting a blistering pace for making top-level nominations. He has eclipsed the number of nominations made by former President George W. Bush at this point in his presidency, and he’s on target to secure the most confirmed appointments of any modern president in his first 100 days.

The Rose Garden: Obama Has Some Rowdy Capitol Hill Allies

March 30, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama’s popularity shows no sign of letting up. He’s a TV sensation. He’s an Internet sensation. He’s a magazine sensation. He’s just a sensation. But none of that will protect him from ... his own party.

The Rose Garden: The New President Has Gifts, Will Travel

March 23, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama has been in office only a couple of months, and already he has embarked on the permanent campaign. Obama has swept through Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Ohio — not to mention a foray into nearby Virginia — all prize pieces of the electoral majority that he must assemble in 2012.

The Rose Garden: Outreach Continues, Even Amid Tougher Tones

March 16, 12 a.m.

The Era of Outreach is not over, say White House officials. But perhaps it is now sharing space with an Era of Mixed Feelings.

The Rose Garden: Team Obama Hopes for Close Ties With Blue Dogs

March 9, 12 a.m.

Just a week into his administration, President Barack Obama was facing his first major test on the floor of Congress, and he was on a path toward losing.