Obama Must Win Over House Republicans Before Ron Fournier Anoints Him A Leader

**FILE** Ron Fournier is seen in an undated file photo. Fournier, a former White House correspondent, national political writer and online political editor for The Associated Press, has been named chief of the AP's W... **FILE** Ron Fournier is seen in an undated file photo. Fournier, a former White House correspondent, national political writer and online political editor for The Associated Press, has been named chief of the AP's Washington bureau. The appointment of Fournier, who had served as acting bureau chief since May, was announced Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, by Mike Oreskes, the AP's managing editor for U.S. news. (AP Photo) MORE LESS

By Tom Kludt

January 7, 2014 1:49 p.m.

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Leadership arbiter Ron Fournier still isn’t all that impressed with President Obama.

The Senate moved forward on a three-month extension of unemployment benefits on Tuesday after some aggressive lobbying from Obama that included personal phone calls to Republican lawmakers, a gesture that would figure to impress pundits like Fournier.

So Bloomberg Businessweek’s Joshua Green cheekily wondered on Twitter if it was an auspicious time for Fournier, who’s carved out a niche imploring Obama to “lead,” to give the President his due.

But Fournier doesn’t dole out leadership points that easily.

“Wait – did it pass the House?” Fournier responded to Green.

@JoshuaGreen Wait – did it pass the House?

— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) January 7, 2014

That will take some doing. Six Senate Republicans helped advance the legislation on Tuesday, but — as evidenced by recent history — the House GOP is a different animal. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he’ll consider taking up an extension if there are sufficient offsets, an area that the Senate hasn’t even agreed on, but he acknowledged that the legislation isn’t the chief focus of his members.

Until then, Fournier will still be waiting for some presidential leadership.

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Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) Tom Kludt is a reporter for Talking Points Memo based in New York City, covering media and national affairs. Originally from South Dakota, Tom joined TPM as an intern in late-2011 and became a staff member during the 2012 election. He can be reached at tom@talkingpointsmemo.com.

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