Less than one week after speaking to the House Republican caucus about how to bridge enormous political divisions to solve the country’s problems, President Obama on Feb. 3 urged Democratic Senators to regain the high ground by getting out of the Washington bubble and speaking directly to the American people.

“We’ve got to constantly make our case,” Mr. Obama plainly stated. “If anybody’s searching for an answer from Massachusetts, I promise you the answer is not to do nothing,” referring to the upset election of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate.

The President delivered his remarks at the  Senate Democratic Conference held this Wednesday at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Introduced as “the man from Hawaii” by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Mr. Obama added to a list of legislative accomplishments ticked off by Reid.

Among the areas deemed a success were: Lands and environmental legislation, equalizing pay between men and women, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, National Service legislation, credit card reform, tobacco regulation by the FDA, economic recovery, job preservation and job creation with approximately 60% of the federal stimulus money still to be distributed.

“We always knew this was going to be a difficult year to govern,” the President remarked. “We led. Those actions prevented another great depression; they broke the back of a severe recession.”

After his brief introductory comments, Mr. Obama received questions from a pre-determined list of senators. Interestingly, many of the senators selected during the Q&A session represent states that are considered by some political observers as potential battleground states in upcoming elections.

Arlen Specter (D-PA) explained his concerns about the trade imbalance between the United States and foreign countries, particularly China, and urged the President to consider revoking China’s favored trade status. Mr. Obama unequivocally said he was opposed to such action, as he believes China and Asia are going to be one of the United States’ biggest market.

However, he did agree Specter that the issue of imbalance needs to be addressed.

Michael Bennet (D-CO) asked the President what can Democrats do differently to fix the institution of Congress so that democracy can withstand the tests it is facing.

“I am a big defender of integrity and hard work of individual members,” Mr. Obama said. “The problem is an institution that is not adapted to the demands of a hugely competitive 21st century.”

Mr. Obama admonished his fellow Democrats to conduct business in full view of the public. He said because of the political climate during the recent health care negotiations, “some of the transparency got lost, and we paid a price for it.”

The President also urged Senators to turn off their TV’s and get out and speak with real constituents.

“ I think if everybody here turned off your CNN, your FOX, just turn off the TV, MSNBC, blogs, and go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber, where the topic is constantly politics.”

Other questions came from Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, California Senator Barbara Boxer, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.

Bayh ended the retreat with a question about fiscal responsibility and how some Americans don’t think the Democrats have the backbone to make tough financial sacrifices to balance the budget.

“The last time this budget was balanced it was under a Democratic president (Bill Clinton) who made some very tough decisions,” Mr. Obama concluded. “We’ve been very fiscally responsible. We have been complicit in some ways over the last decade — prescription drug bill, two wars, two tax cuts, not paid for.

“There’s no doubt we’ve lost trust. The way we regain trust is to pursue good policies, and not be afraid to explain these policies.”

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