海角大神

To get anything done in Washington, a president鈥檚 got to keep the lines of communication open with Capitol Hill. President Trump, with some notable exceptions, appears to have that pipeline flowing 鈥� though largely to his own party.

Mr. Trump lost no time inviting lawmakers to the White House. When Congress was on recess last week, Hill staffers from both parties headed to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue for bowling and pizza, part of a concerted outreach.

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks several times a week with the president. Other members of Congress call Trump directly on his cellphone. And the vice president鈥檚 motorcade cruises regularly to the Capitol鈥檚 wide plaza to dispense the White House's point man 鈥� Mike Pence, a former congressman.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no ambassador quite like ... the vice president,鈥� says Sen. James Lankford (R) of Oklahoma. Unusually, the peripatetic Mr. Pence, who is president of the Senate, has been given an office on the House side of the Capitol, and he confabs every week with his GOP Senate colleagues at their聽Tuesday聽caucus lunch.

Trump has mostly reached out to fellow Republicans 鈥� though he鈥檚 also strategically wooing a handful of Democrats from red states who are up for reelection in 2018, among them Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

In six weeks, 鈥淚鈥檝e spoken with this White House and this president more than I did the other president in six years,鈥� says Senator Manchin, referring to President Obama, who was criticized for not schmoozing enough with Hill folk.

Policymaking is harder

But as observers point out, schmoozing only takes a president so far. Now that Congress is moving into the legislative phase, it鈥檚 time to go from glad-handing to handling policy details 鈥� at which Trump is a novice. His speech before Congress this week, while striking a more inclusive tone, was mostly broad talking points.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no harm in doing the schmoozing, and in some cases, you actually build authentic relationships. But that does not translate into people abandoning their world view with respect to certain public policies,鈥� says Patrick Griffin, former director of legislative affairs for President Clinton.

Republicans are still divided on their first big legislative item 鈥� repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.聽On Wednesday, key House chairmen working on the legislation came over to brief Senate Republicans behind closed doors.

Three Senate conservatives oppose the legislation 鈥� enough to sink it in the Senate, while House conservatives aren鈥檛 happy with it, either. GOP governors are also divided. Meanwhile, some moderate Republican senators back a different plan.

Republicans are also far from agreement on tax reform, the next big item for this year.

The GOP may now be the dominant party in America, controlling Congress, the White House, and 33 governorships, but it鈥檚 also incredibly diverse. The larger the tent, the harder it is to find consensus, says Jennifer Victor, a political science professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

At the same time, Trump wants to get things done that appeal more to Democrats, such as making a big investment in infrastructure and renegotiating trade deals.

鈥淗e has to build coalitions that include the opposition. He has absolutely no experience in that,鈥� says Professor Victor, an expert in legislative politics. Dealmaking with legislators is 鈥渆ntirely different鈥� than negotiating business deals, she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 multidimensional chess on a level we鈥檝e never seen him play.鈥�

Coming to push and shove

Trump can probably delegate the details to people like Pence and his cabinet, says Mr. Griffin. But when policy meets politics 鈥� as it does with Obamacare repeal 鈥� only the president has the clout, the political capital, to knock heads together or sweeten a deal.

鈥淵ou need muscle, and Pence is not going to be able to do that,鈥� says Griffin. 鈥淲hat matters is whether or not the president has some stroke behind who he is. The reaching out, the fight, the policy, it only adds up to a strategy if he鈥檚 got some standing that makes folks pay attention to him.鈥�

Mr. Obama had that standing in the beginning, but it faded after health-care reform. President Clinton had the social skills to work with Congress, but made ham-handed mistakes in his first year that cost him the majority.

After his election was decided by the United States Supreme Court, George W. Bush dipped several times into low job approval ratings. But he was rescued politically by the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which produced a surge of national unity.

Using his base

President Trump鈥檚 approval ratings are at a historic low for a new president 鈥� but not among Republicans and certainly not among his base. Therein lies his clout, if he鈥檒l use it with his own party, says Griffin. 鈥淗e certainly has the nerve.鈥�

The former Clinton aide says Trump needs a 鈥渂older鈥� strategy, not only to forge agreement within the GOP, but with Democrats 鈥� though he admits it could get dicey with conservatives.

鈥淚f he can just be a little nicer in the way he talks with Democrats, he may convince some of them to go along with him,鈥� particularly on fixing Obamacare, says Griffin. His attack on the health law in his address to Congress 鈥渨as gratuitously hostile. He needs Democrats.... It was a stupid play.鈥�

Indeed, Senate minority leader Charles Schumer (D) of New York has had no personal contact with the president since he visited the White House with other congressional leaders shortly after the inauguration 鈥� though there's been staff contact.聽

Senator Manchin, whom liberal groups want removed from the Democratic leadership because he's too close to the White House, points out that communication works both ways.

鈥淭he president can outreach and his staff, and we can outreach,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been pretty receptive.鈥� Democrats may not like that Republicans stopped them up during the Obama years, 鈥渂ut two wrongs don鈥檛 make a right. We鈥檝e got a chance to move forward on some issues.鈥�