This is probably going to be pretty awkward.
President Obama will host Mitt Romney at the White House for lunch tomorrow, press secretary Jay Carney announced this morning. There aren’t a lot of details out there about what the two men will talk about, but the president suggested in his first post-election news conference that he’d be open to getting Romney’s input on how to solve some of the nation’s problems.
“There are certain aspects of Governor Romney’s record and his ideas that I think could be very helpful,” Obama said then. “And you know, that skill set of trying to figure out how do we make something work better applies to the federal government. There are a lot of ideas that I don’t think are partisan ideas but are just smart ideas about how can we make the federal government more customer-friendly.”
The president continued:
He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. And so it’d be interesting to talk to him about something like that. There may be ideas that he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that I want to hear. So you know, I’m not – I’m not either prejudging what he’s interested in doing, nor am I suggesting I’ve got some specific assignment. But I – what I want to do is to – is to get ideas from him and see if – see if there are some ways that we can potentially work together.
Of course, despite those kind words, the president offered quite a few less flattering ones on the campaign trail, and neither man appeared exactly fond of the other during their months-long battle for the presidency.
The meeting will take place in the White House’s private dining room.
