Less than one week before his inauguration as our 44th President, Barack Obama spent an evening with conservative pundits and commentators (and at least one free market capitalist).  According to reports, the dinner party took place at the home of George Will, with other guests including CNBC's Larry Kudlow, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, and others.

Perhaps the meeting was nothing more than a stunt or part of some sort of charm offensive.  Perhaps, like Rush Limbaugh apparently said on his radio show in discussing the meeting, it was simply Obama trying to define who the "conservatives" are, choosing those he found likely to be vulnerable to his dialog; however, people like Will and Krauthammer seem pretty well established with over 30 years of work; Kristol served as Vice President Dan Quayle's chief of staff; Peggy Noonan was a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan; Larry Kudlow worked in the Reagan budget office and has his own show on CNBC, and Paul Gigot is an editorial page editor for the Wall Street Journal.  These people are already well established.

Perhaps Obama took nothing from the meeting that will bear fruit down the road.  But I would submit that discussing tax cuts and free markets with Kudlow, the dangers of Hamas and a nuclear Iran with Krauthammer, or the follies of overreaching government with Will would be beneficial to anyone, particularly someone who probably doesn't hear these ideas articulated with such intellectual clarity as people like these offer.  If any of these guests at least gave him some thought on which to ponder, the result was a positive one.  At the very least, he was willing to listen.  Could anyone seriously expect such an act of outreach from a (God forbid) President-elect Al Gore, John Kerry, or Joe Biden?

Lovers of liberty and free market capitalism had a rough row to hoe in the 2008 election, as neither candidate exhibiting a great propensity towards limiting government intrusion in our private lives and the economy.  I suspect that most who voted did so for McCain, with metaphorically-pinched nose.  That the President-elect would spend a night breaking bread with people ideologically opposed to him on most fronts during one of the most busy weeks of his life — a week when most Presidents-elect have chosen the audience of comforting supporters and yes-men and to bask in the adoration of the public — may not provide any long-term benefits, but it is at least a start.  If the Secret Service doesn't end up taking away his now-famous Blackberry, maybe he'll hit up Kudlow, Gigot, or Krauthammer for some quick thoughts during the next big debate on healthcare, taxes, or foreign policy.