I don't know why Obama doesn't invite the Republicans to an interactive "President's Questions" session like he did last year at the Republican Retreat. By engaging the Republicans face-to-face, Obama turned around the health care debate. There is nothing worse for a Republican talking point than having someone with the facts in the room and responding in real time. Obama's great strength is his prodigious intellect and command of the facts. At the Republican Retreat, the back-and-forth allowed Obama to show that the Republicans had come to a battle of wits unarmed.

Presidential policy speeches are a thing of the past. Information doesn't work that way any more. Obama will give his speech. Then the Republicans will give their response. Few people will listen to either. The main message most people will take away will be "Obama talked, and the Republicans disagreed." The speech will be forgotten in a week.

Obama's reelection team may think that they can point to the speech as an example of Obama trying to do something about jobs and the Republicans refusing to listen, but that dog won't hunt with most people. The Republicans will simply sell the pitiful crap they are already selling, that Obama's ideas have failed, and they considered his so-called new proposals just more of the same.

I think Obama has to be in the room with them. Otherwise they all get to act like tigers when they are really basically cowardly ignorami. Is that a word?