AP: Obama's health care summit: Just for show?

Even the AP is not buying this farce as anything more than a PR stunt for Obama.

The way the health care summit was announced struck some Republicans as suspect. Democrats say the idea came from the White House, and was first broached last Thursday when Obama met Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Hoyer, to discuss the 2010 legislative agenda.

Republicans say they were notified by the White House on Sunday, a couple of hours before a CBS News interview in which Obama floated the proposal. Usually, White House schedulers call congressional leaders well in advance of major meetings.

Democrats say they want to resolve remaining differences between the House and Senate versions of their own legislation before the meeting. That may mean Obama wants to emphasize contrasts with Republicans, not probe for common ground.

Exactly, this is a trap set up by the Dems and Obama for the GOP. Obama thinks if he can put on a show on how "reasonable" he is about health reform, he can put the GOP on the defensive and win points. The fact nothing else has been told about how and what the meeting is going to be is telling.

Via Reuters:

The summit, which Obama wants televised, would give him another chance to sway public opinion on the unpopular legislation that is critical to the president's domestic agenda.

The meeting also would answer criticism he did not engage Republicans and instead negotiated backroom deals in an effort to get it passed.

"The president is trying to turn around the sour mood on this issue and mitigate the criticism that he's ramming this bill down people's throats," said Bob Blendon, a health policy and political analyst at Harvard University.

But congressional Republicans said they were wary of Obama's intentions and were in no mood to compromise on a bill that polls show is opposed by a majority of Americans.

"Republicans welcome honest discussion, but this event reeks of political gamesmanship," said Republican Representative Tom Price. "The only constructive discussions will start with a blank sheet of paper."

The White House said the summit was not intended as a vehicle to start the healthcare debate all over again.

"The president doesn't think we should start over," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said.

So what is the damn point of this other than Obama wanting to put on a show because he doesn't believe the public is smart enough to figure out this is a sham.