Open Obama White House

After Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) told President Obama that he has now served with eight commanders in chief, Obama responded, “How do you keep so young?”

In a recent interview, the 75-year-old lawmaker smiled when recalling the exchange, noting that he also lobbied Obama for more infrastructure funds in the stimulus bill.

{mosads}“That’s a smart president,” Young said. “If he really wanted my vote [on the stimulus], I might give it to him just because he said that.”

Since Jan. 20, Obama has asked 139 lawmakers to visit the White House, though the gatherings did not foster much bipartisanship on the stimulus measure.

Young ultimately voted against the stimulus, but the conversation at the White House is noteworthy, partly because it seemed implausible just months ago.

Young, the architect of the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” that was repeatedly mocked last year on the presidential campaign trail by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), triumphed in his GOP primary by 304 votes.

And even in the wake of constant attacks from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that Young “was too corrupt for Alaska,” the Republican won his 19th term in November.

He was invited last month to the White House — despite reportedly being investigated by the FBI — for Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter anti-wage discrimination bill.

Young was one of three House GOP members to back the measure, saying, “I think anyone who can do equal jobs should be paid equally.”

Five weeks into his presidency, Obama’s White House has invited more than 25 percent of Congress to cocktails parties, bill signings and a gathering to watch the Super Bowl.

Obama has made several trips to his old stomping grounds on Capitol Hill to meet with liberals and conservatives alike, but he has socialized with members much more at the White House.

A list of congressional visits to the White House compiled by The Hill from press accounts and interviews shows that 38 senators and 101 House lawmakers have made the trip up Pennsylvania Avenue. Many lawmakers have made multiple visits.

The list, while not comprehensive, is composed largely of House and Senate leaders, conservative Democrats and centrist Republicans. (The White House did not respond to a request to review The Hill’s list in order to account for every lawmaker who has been to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. since Jan. 20.)

Many of the White House gatherings were bipartisan, and some even strictly Republican, but the president’s guest list still shades blue, with the number of Democrats outpacing that of Republicans by a 5-to-2 margin.

Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said Obama’s courtship of Congress is extraordinary: “I don’t think there has been anything like the outreach that Obama has pulled off — not just the extent but the apparent sincerity of it.“

{mospagebreak}Noting that members from both sides of the aisle complained about a lack of invitations to the George W. Bush White House, Baker said, “Obama is playing a higher kind of politics. I think what he’s done is convinced people he’s sincere, that he’s going to put things on a much more civil level.”

Freshman Rep. Leonard Lance (N.J.) was among 11 House Republicans in the West Wing for White House Chief of Staff’s Rahm Emanuel’s pitch for the stimulus late last month.

Republicans have characterized their time with Obama and the hard-charging Emanuel as cordial, even if the conversations failed to produce the support the White House sought.

{mosads}“I don’t favor arm-twisting, and there was no arm-twisting,” Lance said.

Three GOP members (all in the Senate) backed the stimulus, while 219 Republican lawmakers voted against it, triggering criticism of the White House’s bipartisan outreach initiatives.

But Obama said in his first primetime press conference that all of his efforts engaging Republicans, including the White House visits, are “designed to try to build up some trust over time. And I think that as I continue to make these overtures, over time hopefully that will be reciprocated.”

Young believes Obama is sincere in his desire to work with the other side, saying, “This is a big nut to crack. … There are a lot of philosophy differences here.”

He added, “His biggest enemy is going to be his own party.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has been to the White House at least six times — more than any other member — while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has paid at least five visits. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have been to Obama’s new home at least four times apiece.

A few Republicans have traveled there several times, such as Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who has been to the White House on four separate occasions, and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who has registered three visits.

For a list of of lawmaker visits to the White House, click here to download a PDF.