The president just concluded — after running over time — his exchange with the House GOP. There was, of course, a lot in what he said that we can and should take issue with, but the mere fact that this meeting happened — and that (unlike the president’s meetings with his own party) it was televised — is remarkable in its own right.

More remarkable still is that it would be hard to argue the exchange is anything but a plus-plus for Obama and the GOP. Both sides emerged from it looking as if, contra the public’s greatest fears, they are serious about the deficit and health-care reform. The president avoided the temptation to speak in platitudes and sound bytes, and the Republicans went a long way toward showing that they are hardly a party of obstructionists with no solutions to offer Americans.

Obama’s lengthy back-and-forth with Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) was particularly compelling, as it was clear that the president realized he was in the presence of a razor-sharp wonk and one of the most effective critics of his administration.

Maybe it’s just that the novelty of the Q&A has yet to wear off, but the frank exchange was refreshing, and an encouraging development.

UPDATE: C-SPAN will replay the “question time” in its entirety tonight at 8 p.m.

UPDATE II: Good points from several readers who want to temper my starry-eyed optimism:

One sees the relative candor of Obama’s responses as evidence, at last, of the Scott Brown Effect:

What’s this — after a year in office, Obama has discovered that there is a Republican Party, and has deigned to speak with them? On television?
What could have caused this?
As a citizen of Massachusetts, I say — you’re welcome.

Another, along those same lines, suggests Obama is hedging his bets:

Might Congressional Democrats interpret this as Obama seeking a Separate Peace with the GOP? I have read some interpretations (David Brooks’s among them) of the SOTU that saw a President unwilling to go down with the sinking ship of Democrats running for re-election in 2010. If that interpretation is true, could Obama (or the recently re-hired David Plouffe) already be looking ahead to 2012, and beginning to redirect the aircraft carrier that is Team Obama?
Just a thought.