The Democrats came to the summit armed with constituent stories illustrating the single point on which there is no disagreement: something needs to be done about health care in America. President Obama respectfully listened to these stories without comment.
Eric Cantor came to the meeting armed with a copy of the bill that represents the central purpose of this gathering. And the president gratuitously mocked the presence of the bill as an irrelevant political prop.
This told me everything I needed to know about the summit.

I actually heard George Miller make that first point this morning: The summit was a success because we now know that everyone agrees that health care in America isn’t perfect. Translation: Republicans aren’t only saying “no.”

If you had any doubt that there hasn’t been a whole lot of listening going on on the Left during the past year, there you are.