Can Obama sell his 'hard stuff' to the Senate?

The weather saved President Barack Obama from witnessing his climate change plan being pulled apart before his eyes. He told the assembled travelling White House press that he, and they, had to make a quick exit because of a weather warning in Washington. The warning of a blizzard was real enough: the advice here is don't leave home, and as I write I'm watching snow gusting down on the usually busy road outside. It's been empty all morning. On TV an excited reporter has just said "this is not just a storm, but a natural disaster unfolding before our eyes". Maybe not, but the president is now home and the White House says he has no engagements for the weekend. I don't blame him.

But it was the speed of the spin that avoided the appearance of a collapse of the talks. First a White House statement of a deal, and then the presidential news conference hailing the agreement between some of the world's most important countries as a modest step forward. His tone certainly wasn't unrealistically victorious, he was straightforward, thoughtful and rather downbeat.

He said he understood the problems of developing countries but seized on the fact that for the first time India had made a commitment to cut greenhouse gases. His whole message was that the perfect is the enemy of the good.

He said this year had taught him when it came to "hard stuff" it was better to make some progress, and then try to make it better. I like the headline from the Boston Globe: "11th hour Copenhagen pact better than none, but barely." It is how Obama probably feels himself.

Of course his critics, like the New York Post, will be quick to condemn the deal as a "sham" and a "farce", and keen to portray the president as being "snubbed" by other world leaders. That's just rather crude party politics. There are a minority here who see any deal-making with foreigners as humiliatingly weedy.

But committing America to the cuts the president has promised will be a struggle for him. The fact that he has pushed through an agreement by emerging nations to cut greenhouse gases, and that these will be verified, helps him: just a little bit. It is better than a total breakdown. He himself said that without verification that other countries were cutting their emissions it would be "a hollow victory". But the deal is not legally binding and the verification process sounds pretty hazy.

More . . .