Obama Breaks Bread With a Host of Right-Wing Propagandists?

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 6:05 AM on January 14, 2009.

Last night around 6:30 pm ET, Barack Obama arrived at the home of conservative columnist George Will to dine with a host of right-wing luminaries. Brimming with giddiness, pool reporter Kenneth Bazinet of the New York Daily News reported:

Your pool has been told it's a dinner party.

And, thanks to an enterprising photographer, a shot through a window showed op-ed stalwarts William Kristol and David Brooks are also part of this unlikely gathering of tight, right suits. [...]

This is for real, folks. The bloggers are going to love this one.

Ben Smith notes, "All three wrote, at times, both kind and scathing things about Obama, though Kristol in particular pushed sharp attack lines against him in the waning days of the race." HuffPost's Sam Stein notes, "Obama has pledged to be a uniter once in office. He's also said he is willing to take policy suggestions from any source, regardless of ideological affiliation, as long as they work. So far, he's living up to his word."

Update: Marc Ambinder reports, "Tomorrow, I hear Obama has another private meeting with non-Republican opinion columnists. Ellen Moran, the incoming White House communications director, set these meetings up. Again -- establishment opinion matters to the Obama communications team."

Update: TNR's Michael Crowley cautions that "liberal outrage would be misplaced here."

Tagged as: obama, george will, washington dc, kenneth bazinet, dinner

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.