President Obama today took an unusual step. He held an economic summit, invited members of both parties, economists, media people and other influential citizens and proceeded to take questions for nearly an hour, as if this was a parliamentary system of government, as Great Britain has.
This included comments by John McCain and Eric Cantor and good natured ribbing by Obama of these and other critics. No President has ever put himself into such a situation, and it shows his willingness to hear all points of view and keep a good humor in the process.
Obama has already shown that he believes in constant public contact and this idea followed through today has proved to be useful and may be utilized in the future. This is one of the many reasons why public opinion polls show he remains very high in public opinion one month into his Presidency!