GOP leaders, Obama talk ‘common ground’ at lunch meeting

President Obama and House GOP leaders stressed their desire to find common ground Wednesday after a White House lunch focused on the economy. 

Neither the Republican leaders nor the White House took potshots at one another after the meeting, which ran a little over an hour in the president’s private dining room off the Oval Office. 

{mosads}A day after Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) accused the president of seeking an inappropriate “quid pro quo” between business and his administration, both sides offered smiles after lunching on salmon, a vegetable medley and apple dessert.

“The main portion of the entire lunch was talking about the economy,” Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said at a stakeout following the lunch. “We looked to places that we could work together on — from jobs to cutting government spending.”

Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), the third Republican at the White House meeting, repeatedly said Obama made clear that he was interested in finding areas of “common ground,” listing education and trade as two areas where that could happen.

Overall, Boehner was “pleased” with the “cordial” discussion, which he credited to “the sincere desire to find areas of common ground from both sides,” an aide said.

Obama and the GOP appeared to avoid the toughest topics. Healthcare, for example, was not discussed. 

The House voted to repeal Obama’s signature legislative achievement just a few weeks ago, and expects to pass legislation to defund it next week. 

The White House offered an olive branch early in the day when Obama’s trade chief, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, told a congressional panel he’d been directed to intensify talks with Colombia and Panama so that deals with those countries could be submitted to Congress. More Democrats oppose the Colombia deal in particular than Republicans, who have pressed for action on it. 

Boehner said there is an appetite in the House for those deals, adding that he is hopeful Obama will send those deals to Capitol Hill — “the sooner, the better.”

The Republican leaders said they made clear to Obama that they are intent on cutting spending, and Obama agreed that he wants to attack the deficit and cut spending. 

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the lunch was “not a negotiating session,” and GOP aides said the two sides did not go into detail over how spending should be cut. 

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“They agreed on … cutting spending and reducing our deficit; that we should have a broad discussion about, with the American people, the size and scope of the problem we face in getting our fiscal house in order,” Gibbs said.

“I think this is going to be a long discussion on the steps we need to take to reduce our deficit,” said Gibbs, who told reporters he spoke only briefly with the president after the meeting. 

The press secretary did say that Obama is focused on cooperating with the GOP and not on the 2012 elections, which Gibbs described as “far, far away.” 

Gibbs said the president hopes that “we spend the next many months addressing and finding that common ground and addressing the challenges that we know the American people want us to address.”

“There will be plenty of time to get back to a political campaign, and I think it’s important that we spend time focusing on what’s on people’s minds,” Gibbs said. 

On trade, Gibbs said the White House legislative affairs shop is still working on the language for the South Korea agreement that Obama hailed as a breakthrough in December. Republicans and business groups have both hailed the president’s support for that deal. 

As for the deals with Colombia and Panama, Gibbs said there are still “outstanding issues” the president wants to see resolved, but the White House is hopeful that it can get those deals done and sent to Capitol Hill this year.