Republicans, Feeling Shut Out, Question Obama’s Legislative Intentions
WASHINGTON — Four days before President Obama unveiled a sweeping $60 billion vision of free community college for millions of Americans, his staff reached out to Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a former education secretary and a Republican authority on the issue.
But even as they invited Mr. Alexander to ride with Mr. Obama aboard Air Force One for the announcement in Knoxville, Tenn., last month, White House aides made it clear that they were informing the senator about the plan, not consulting him. In return, Mr. Alexander was uncompromising: He would not support the president’s big idea.
“They let us know what they were planning; they didn’t ask for advice on developing a proposal,” Mr. Alexander said in an interview. “I would have suggested a different approach.”
As the president travels across the country promoting a bold and expensive domestic agenda for his last two years in office — including a trip on Friday to Indiana to push his community college proposal — his strategy on Capitol Hill is raising questions about what he hopes to accomplish.
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