Smackdown 2010?

Two days after his State of the Union, President Obama accepted an invitation to speak at the House Republican's conference in Baltimore, MD (Intro speech here and the Q&A Session here). It was a bold move to accept and in hindsight, it was a bolder move to offer.

I heard about this intergovernmental meeting of presumed opponents and it was described to me as a smackdown. Watch for yourself, but it was less that and more a careful refutation of partisan gridlock in Congress. Obama admitted to a mistake (not facilitating the public monitoring of the health care debate) but really he spent the time telling the House Republicans that they both needed to engage in a more constructive way. It was a nice follow up to the SOTU and it puts Republicans on their heels even more. They should never have allowed him into their lair.