(Video by Lynn Sweet)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Mitt Romney's selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate "was not a political choice"; his warm personal chemistry with Ryan made it more like a "bromance."

A major mistake by President Barack Obama's team was waiting too long to give fund-raising assistance to the main SuperPAC bolstering Obama's re-election bid.

Those insights came during a conference on the 2012 presidential campaign hosted by Harvard's Institute of Politics, which included the key operatives from the Obama and Romney operations, Romney's GOP primary challengers and strategists who ran SuperPACs.

The "Decision Makers Conference" took place last Wednesday and Thursday with the remarks embargoed until Monday.

Among the findings for the historic record:

♦ Right before Clint Eastwood spoke at the GOP convention -- where he became the story of the night with his surprise talk to an empty chair -- Romney strategist Russ Schreifer asked the actor if indeed he was going to deliver the same remarks he did twice before at fund-raisers. Schreifer said Eastwood "looked at me and said 'yup.' "

♦ While the Obama team saw the selection of Ryan as a gift -- turning the conversation from Obama's record to Ryan's proposals on Medicare and other social safety net programs -- another Romney strategist, Stuart Stevens, said his selection did not reflect some changing theory about the race.

"It was not a political choice," Stevens said. It was "never discussed as such."

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said as soon as Ryan and Romney started campaigning together, during his daily calls with Romney "it was like talking to your buddy who just met a girl and is giddy." Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said when he saw the chemistry of Ryan and Romney together, he thought, "it was like a bromance."

♦ Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said one of his mistakes -- and a chief regret -- was waiting too long to prod Obama donors to contribute to the main SuperPAC helping the president. And given the Obama campaign's initial reluctance to deal with SuperPACs, when they jumped in, it "looked like a flip flop."

♦ Regarding that damaging video -- where Romney, at a fund-raiser, said 47 percent of Americans were dependent on government -- Rhoades said no one on his side "knew it existed." Romney took the blame for what he said, Rhoades said.

Teddy Goff, Obama's digital director, said there was a downside to the 47 percent tape for his troops: to the extent Obama backers thought the president was becoming a favorite, well, that was "not helpful to us at all."

♦ Romney senior adviser Beth Myers said Romney started debate prep in June -- with the first debate Oct. 3. "He wanted this to be the Manhattan Project" of the campaign, she said. In all, Romney held 16 mock debates.

♦ David Simas, Obama's director of opinion research, said they were confident of the Obama lead in battleground states in part because they had massive samplings -- 9,000 telephone interviews across 10 states most nights.

♦ Brian Baker, the president and general counsel for the Ending Spending Action Fund -- bankrolled by Joe Ricketts, the father of Cubs executives Tom and Laura -- said the SuperPAC never considered funding ads featuring the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Obamas' former pastor -- even through a consultant pitched them on the idea.

Baker said he did not pull the plug because the story leaked to the New York Times. Rather there was no plug to pull; the proposal "was never going to be greenlighted" because there was no "research" showing it would work -- and there was a backfire potential that it would fire up Obama supporters.

Fiscal Cliff Notes for Dec. 4, 2012
27 days to the fiscal cliff

The latest fiscal cliff wrangling: Click HERE for my post at the Sun-Times politics blog.

WASHINGTON--Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk are sending four names to President Barack Obama on Monday to replace Patrick Fitzgerald as the U.S. attorney in Chicago.

The four --Jonathan Bunge, Zachary Fardon, Lori Lightfoot and Gil Soffer--are all partners in Chicago law firms with experience as federal prosecutors in Chicago.

Neither Durbin, a Democrat, nor Kirk, a Republican are signaling a preference within this group to Obama, Durbin told me when we talked on Monday.

Durbin stressed that he and Kirk worked to make the finalist list a bi-partisan effort, so the same names would be sent to the White House no matter who won the November election.

"We tried to play this right down the middle," Durbin told me.

The names of the finalists were reported Oct. 30 in the Chicago Sun-Times, with their selection the result of a search and evaluation by a nonpartisan committee appointed by Durbin an Kirk and chaired by lawyers Mark Filip and David Coar.

That all the finalists are from Chicago represents a change of direction. Patrick Fitzgerald's selection was fueled in large part by the insistence of former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) for an outsider to get the job.

I asked Durbin about this and he said, "a person's zipcode should not decide the qualifications for this important job. The process was open to people from all over the United States to apply. I think we have four outstanding individuals. The fact that they all have solid roots in Illinois is a plus, not a minus as far as I am concerned."

The search was started last July. The timing of the next phase is up to the White House, which will then vet, or investigate the prospects before Obama taps a nominee. The next step is for the nomination to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee--of which Durbin is a member. From the time Obama sends a nominee to the committee to confirmation could take between two and four months.

Durbin and Kirk agreed in advance that the process would be bi-partisan. The two senators interviewed each prospect individually. Durbin did the interviews in person. Kirk, who is recovering from a stroke and working mainly out of his home near Highland Park is believed to have done the interviews over the phone.

Filip and Coar called their picks a "consensus" decision in an Oct. 9 letter to Durbin and Kirk.

"All have federal prosecutorial experience. None is a career prosecutor only -each has done criminal defense work after having served as a prosecutor. It was the committee's view that the broad range of practical legal experiences of each applicant represented an important asset for a U.S. attorney," the letter said.

"All have good reputations in the legal community. All share the believe (though with slightly differing ordering) that the primary subject matter concerns of the office" should be, the letter said-- ranking them-- violence and drugs followed by public corruption, financial crimes and terrorism.

The contenders:

Bunge is a former deputy chief of the U.S. attorney's general crimes section in Chicago. He now is a partner with Kirkland & Ellis in the law firm's Chicago office. Bunge attended Princeton and the University of Chicago Law School.

Fardon specialized in public corruption cases as federal prosecutor in Chicago and Tennessee. His prosecuted former Illinois Gov. George Ryan and his chief of staff, Scott Fawell. He is now a partner with the Chicago law firm of Latham & Watkins in Chicago. He received his undergraduate and law degree from Vanderbilt University.

Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor in Chicago and former chief administrator at the Chicago Police Department's Office of Professional Standards. Lightfoot is a partner with the Chicago law firm with the Mayer Brown. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School. She is the only woman and minority on the list.

Soffer is a former federal prosecutor in Chicago who moved on the Justice Department in Washington, where he was an Associate Deputy Attorney General--working for Filip. Gov. Pat Quinn tapped Sofer to serve as a commissioner on the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission. He received his undergraduate degree from Brown and his law degree from Harvard Law School.

Since Fitzgerald's departure this summer, the interim U.S. attorney has been Gary Shapiro, who was Fitzgerald's second-in-command.

Fiscal Cliff Notes for Dec. 3, 2012
28 days to the fiscal cliff

For what's up in the fiscal cliff dramas, click over to my post at the Sun-Times politics blog.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama honored Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy at the White House on Sunday night--along with other Kennedy Center honorees--recalling how he played "Sweet Home Chicago" at a previous visit to the White House.

"Today, Buddy is still going strong -- one of the last guardians of the great American blues. And on a personal note, I will never forget Buddy playing "Sweet Home Chicago" in this very room back in February and him, and a few others, forcing me to sing along - -- which was just okay. There aren't too many people who can get me to sing, but Buddy was one of them. And so we are so glad that we can honor him tonight. Congratulations, Buddy Guy," Obama said.

Others honored are: Late Show host David Letterman, actor Dustin Hoffman, dancer Natalia Makarova and
the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin--keyboardist and bassist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page, and singer Robert Plant.

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel buys full page Washington Post ad to congratulate Buddy Guy, tout Chicago blues tourism
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Celebs at the White House reception from the pool report: Alex Baldwin, Jack Black, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Richard Goodwin, Itzhak Perlman, Lenny Kravitz, Ray Romano, Aretha Franklin (in stunning pink chiffon ) cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Kimmel, Morgan Freeman (in large-brimmed black hat) Kathleen Sebelius, Robert De Niro, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (in light blue dress with lotus print wrap over, choker and chandler earnings) Sen Thad Cochran, rocker Jeff Beck, Sen Kent Conrad in red and black bow tie, Rep John Mica, Jack Lew.

Here's Obama's riff on Buddy Guy: "Growing up as the son of a sharecropper in Louisiana, Buddy Guy made his first guitar out of wires from a window screen -- that worked until his parents started wondering how all the mosquitos were getting in. But Buddy was hooked, and a few years later, he bought a one-way ticket to Chicago to find his heroes -- Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Pretty soon he was broke, hungry and ready to head home. And then, one night outside a blues club, a man pulled up and handed Buddy a salami sandwich and said, "I'm Mud," and "you ain't goin' nowhere." And that was the start of something special.

"Today, Buddy is still going strong -- one of the last guardians of the great American blues. And on a personal note, I will never forget Buddy playing "Sweet Home Chicago" in this very room back in February and him, and a few others, forcing me to sing along - -- which was just okay. There aren't too many people who can get me to sing, but Buddy was one of them. And so we are so glad that we can honor him tonight. Congratulations, Buddy Guy."

Click below for Obama's comments about the other honorees.

WASHINGTON -- The University of Chicago is quietly stepping up its push to land President Barack Obama's presidential library, I was told Saturday.

Top U. of C. honchos are "trying to figure out how to encourage the president and first lady to make the University of Chicago a serious contender," I was told by a source who is knowledgeable about developments to win the library for the U. of C.

University President Robert Zimmer is very interested in securing the library, I was told. Susan Sher, a senior adviser to Zimmer and former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, "has been traveling and looking at other [presidential] libraries," I was told. Sher, who is also an executive vice president for corporate strategy and public affairs at the U. of C. Medical Center, declined comment when I contacted her on Saturday.

The university has been making a below-the-radar play for the library for years -- self-imposing a muzzle for fear of angering the Obama White House and re-election team that did not want to jeopardize his campaign by looking presumptuous.

With the election over -- and a timetable in place for Obama to leave office -- jockeying for the library is expected to break out in the open. Politico's Jennifer Epstein reported about Sher's involvement in the U. of C. library drive on Saturday.

The Obama family and many in their personal, political and donor orbit have close ties to the U. of C.

Obama was a lecturer at the law school; Mrs. Obama was an executive at the U. of C. Medical Center, and their daughters attended the Lab School. Close friend and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett is a former chair of the U. of C. Board of Trustees.

Last July, the Sun-Times reported on concerns raised by U. of C. political science professor Charles Lipson, who worried that a presidential library "would not be a disinterested, scholarly institution," instead advancing a political agenda. U. of C. officials tapped law school Professor Geoffrey Stone to consider Lipson's concerns.

Presidential libraries -- part museum, part archive -- have evolved through the years; there are now 13 of them in the system overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration. The libraries are in essence public-private partnerships with massive private fund-raising needed to bankroll construction. Obama is said to not relish the prospect of having to raise money for a presidential library.

Journalist Jonathan Alter -- a Chicago native -- in his book "The Promise," about Obama's first year, revealed that Obama was mulling an "online library."

Wrote Alter, "In the fall of 2009 University of Chicago officials approached the White House about housing Obama's presidential library. They were told it was too early. To the extent that he had thought about a library, he mused to a friend that maybe it should be an "online library," not bricks-and-mortar. This almost certainly won't happen; the demand for a splashy museum will likely be too great. But it said something about his state of mind."

Obama was born in Hawaii, was partly raised there and the University of Hawaii has been campaigning for the library openly for years.

Where would an Obama library be located? Locations I hear mentioned are west of the U. of C. campus near Washington Park and at the old Michael Reese Hospital compound.

Washington Post ad, Dec. 2, 2012 (photo by Lynn Sweet)

WASHINGTON--Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy, honored Sunday night as a 2012 Kennedy Center honoree, is the subject of a full page ad in the Sunday Washington Post, paid for by the City of Chicago.

Before the show at the Kennedy Center tonight, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle are hosting the seven 2012 honorees at the White House for a reception--full of show biz celebrities.

"From America's blues capital to America's Capitol, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City of Chicago congratulates Buddy Guy," the headline reads.

The ad copy continues, beneath a big picture of Guy by Chicago photographer Paul Natkin, "We are proud that the Kennedy Center and President Barack Obama will pay tribute to Chicago's very own blues pioneer and hometown legend, Buddy Guy."

The ad touts the upcoming 30th annual Chicago Blues Fest, June 6-9 next year and plugs Chicago for blues fans tourists with this: "Visit Chicago - The Blues Capital of the World!"

The ad is sponsored by the City of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

For a quick summary of recent Middle East events: the UN vote on a Palestinian state; Iran, Israel, the rockets hitting Israel and the Iron Dome defenses--Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton comments on them all at a recent speech at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, including her own shuttle diplomacy between Egypt, Israel and the West Bank. Madame Secretary also looks ahead to returning to private life and tells the audience, "one day, I hope to take my grandchildren to visit Israel."

No pressure, Chelsea....

Click below for the transcript

Fiscal Cliff Notes for Dec. 2, 2012
29 days to the fiscal cliff

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner dominates the Sunday shows to push the Obama fiscal cliff agenda; Lynn Sweet post on the latest is at the Sun-Times political blog HERE.

David Axelrod interviewed by Steve Edwards, University of Chicago Institute of Politics Deputy Director for Programming. (photo courtesy of the University of Chicago)

WASHINGTON -- While President Barack Obama's campaign team is doing massive research to figure out how to keep together and re-deploy his volunteer political army, top figures are assessing what they did right -- and where Mitt Romney went wrong.

Here's the latest:

In the short term, it looks like the Obama army is already being prompted to mobilize to help Obama pressure congressional Republicans on "fiscal cliff" issues via the Obama for America website and Twitter feed.

Obama national field director Jeremy Bird said in a Wednesday email more than 1 million campaign supporters answered a survey sent out after the election about what they wanted to do next -- as the data-driven campaign is documenting and analyzing "the work we did over the past 19 months."

Meanwhile, campaign manager Jim Messina and chief strategist David Axelrod are drilling down into the Obama win. Messina has packed up his Chicago apartment -- put everything in storage -- as he spends some time in Tuscany and Montana while he ponders his next move.

Axelrod's next chapter is at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics he is launching; he will serve as its inaugural director. It is patterned after Harvard's Institute of Politics -- where both men were part of a conference on the campaign a few days ago.

At a U. of C. IOP forum last Monday, Axelrod said Romney, by going hard right in the GOP primary, "made a series of Faustian bargains" that helped him clinch the nomination -- but made it harder to win the November election.

Axelrod revealed several developments that surprised him during the campaign:

† The pro-Romney SuperPACs did not hit Obama early by airing attack ads. They "spent an unbelievable amount of money in this race" but "didn't go on the air until May against us. Our greatest fear, frankly, was that they would go up and use their money to attack us in the first three months of the year when we really weren't fortified to respond. I mean, our air defenses were not ready, we just did not have the resources to do that. They gave us a pass."

† The Romney campaign "did not flesh him out in a more substantial way when they had the opportunity to do so," leaving an opening for Obama's team to define his Bain Capital "business practices" as good for Romney and his investors -- but not for most voters.

† Axelrod did not expect Romney to tap Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate. "For the longest time I thought
he might pick Tim Pawlenty," he said of the former Minnesota governor. Or Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, to help in that battleground state. The selection of Ryan "played very much to the base of the party at a time he needed to broaden his appeal."

Messina, at a breakfast session hosted by Politico last week and Axelrod at the U. of C. slammed public polling in the 2012 presidential contest for, among other methodological lapses, not capturing enough cellphone users -- which means missing a lot of young voters who do not have land lines.

Said Axelrod, "Any two kids with an abacus can do a poll at the corner grocery store and some national news organization will cover it as if it's news."

Fiscal Cliff Notes for Dec. 1, 2012
30 days to the fiscal cliff

Lynn Sweet post on the day ahead in the looming fiscal cliff battles is at the Sun-Times politics blog HERE.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 30, 2012

WEEKEND GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012 AND SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2012

On Saturday, the President has no public events scheduled.

On Sunday, the President and the First Lady will host the Kennedy Center Honorees Reception in the East Room. The President will deliver remarks. The President's remarks are pooled press. Later, the President and the First Lady will attend the Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center. There will be travel pool coverage.

Saturday's In-Town Travel Pool

Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP

TV Corr & Crew: ABC

Print: Hearst Newspapers

Radio: ABC

Sunday's In-Town Travel Pool

Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP

TV Corr & Crew: CBS

Print: The Hill

Radio: AP

Saturday, December 1, 2012

EST

11:00AM Pool Call Time

Sunday, December 2, 2012

EST

9:45AM Pool Call Time

5:20PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks at the Kennedy Center Honors Reception

East Room

Pooled Press (Pre-set 3:00PM - Final Gather 4:30PM - North Doors of the Palm Room)

7:30PM THE PRESIDENT and FIRST LADY attend the Kennedy Center Honors

Kennedy Center

Travel Pool Coverage (Gather Time 6:55PM - North Doors of the Palm Room)

**Travel pool should dress in dark suits for this formal event**

Schedule for the Week of December 3, 2012

On Monday, the President will host Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of Bulgaria at the White House. The President welcomes the opportunity to discuss a broad range of bilateral and regional issues during their Oval Office meeting, including Bulgaria's leadership in NATO and its valuable contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The President also looks forward to receiving updates on Bulgaria's investigation into the July 18, 2012 terrorist attack in Burgas and ongoing rule of law and judicial reforms. Then the President will deliver remarks to the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) symposium being held at the National Defense University. On the 20th anniversary of the CTR program, the President will note the extraordinary progress that's been made in securing nuclear material, and thank Senators Nunn and Lugar for their longstanding leadership on these issues.

On Tuesday, the President will meet with governors at the White House to discuss the actions we need to take to keep our economy growing and find a balanced approach to reduce our deficit.

On Wednesday, the President will deliver remarks to members of the Business Roundtable. Then the President will deliver remarks at the 2012 Tribal Nations Conference.

On Thursday, the President and the First Family will attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse.

On Friday, the President will attend meetings at the White House.

###

Good morning... 31 days to the fiscal cliff....for my look at the events that will drive the fiscal cliff stories on Friday, click over to my post at the Sun-Times political blog HERE.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A few days after President Barack Obama won the election, his campaign manager, Jim Messina, contacted Matt Rhoades (who ran Mitt Romney's campaign) to arrange a meeting between the two men.

The result of the outreach -- which Messina confirmed he made when I asked him on Thursday -- was that Romney arrived at the White House on Thursday to lunch with Obama. He visited with Obama in the Oval Office--which a few weeks ago he though he would occupy on Jan. 21, Inauguration Day.

Over white turkey chili and Southwest grilled chicken, the two dined in the private dining room adjacent to the Oval Office, in ae.colunch lasting about an hour. Romney congratulated Obama on his win "and wished him well over the coming four years," the White House said in a statement.

Obama had mentioned in his election night victory speech that he wanted to get together with Romney and brought it up again at a Nov. 14 press conference.

"He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. And so it'd be interesting to talk to him about something like that," Obama said then.

As for the lunch conversation, "the focus of their discussion was on America's leadership in the world and the importance maintaining that leadership position in the future. They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future," the White House said in a statement.

Romney flew in from his California home. While in Washington, he also met with his former running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). It was the first time they have been together since election night in Boston.

I've been talking to a variety of people in the Romney orbit -- some at a conference I am attending at Harvard's Institute of Politics, looking at the 2012 campaign -- plus others to gain some insight into what Romney may do.

Romney told his staff after he lost his second run for president that he would not seek public office again. Eric Fehrnstrom, who was Romney's campaign spokesman, told me Thursday, "I'd be surprised if he didn't stay involved in public service in some way."

Something may be in the works. Fehrnstrom said he "expected some announcement about his future plans after the first of the year."

Romney, who has a residence outside Boston, is setting up an office in Solamere Capital, the Boston firm founded by son Tagg and Spencer Zwick, Romney's national campaign finance chairman.

Romney has told his major donors that he wants to keep his network together. Romney's fund-raising ability could be enormously helpful to future candidates. He rejoined the Marriott board after his 2008 run; it's not known yet, his associates told me, if he is ready to get back in the business world.

What is clear, I am told, is that Romney, a youthful 65, is not anywhere close to retiring.

"He is a very resilient person who gets bored very quickly," an associate said.

While some Republicans are already focused on 2014 and 2016, feeling bruised by Romney's defeat, John Brabender, who was the senior strategist for Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, told me that Romney "can step into a lot of roles."

"He is seen as a little bit less political and ideologically driven as some political figures; therefore, I think that makes that transition a little bit easier.

"Certainly there have been criticisms about him and the campaign, but truthfully, I think those are frustrations. I don't think they are valid, I think they will go away."

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.--President Barack Obama and former rival Mitt Romney lunched Thursday at the White House--the first time they saw each other since the election. The White House released a few details:

"This afternoon, President Obama and Governor Romney visited for an hour over lunch in the Private Dining Room adjacent to the Oval Office. Governor Romney congratulated the President for the success of his campaign and wished him well over the coming four years. The focus of their discussion was on America's leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future. They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future. Their lunch menu included white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad."

Click over to the Sun-Times political blog for a new daily feature by Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet, "Fiscal Cliff Notes," a look at the top story lines developing for the day in the countdown to the fiscal cliff.

Sen. Dick Durbin delivered some tough love Tuesday to his fellow progressive Democrats in a speech on the "fiscal cliff."

His message: Be ready to compromise -- or be left out of the conversation while others make decisions about the priorities you care about the most, such as preventing the middle class from carrying an unfair tax burden.

Durbin's speech, at the Center for American Progress -- a progressive think tank -- comes as President Barack Obama and House and Senate GOP and Democratic leaders are confronting a Dec. 31 deadline to avoid a "fiscal cliff" kicking in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.

Activists on the left and right -- and a host of special interest groups -- are jockeying to protect programs or tax breaks.

Within the progressive community, Democrats see this as a battle between ordinary people and the super rich. They do not want to solve the nation's fiscal woes on the backs of the massive safety net programs -- mainly Medicare and Medicaid.

Obama is adamant about the next step: putting money on the table, by not extending tax breaks set to expire at the end of the year for earners over $250,000.

Durbin invoked the name of two late Illinois Democratic senators -- Paul Douglas and Paul Simon, fiscal realists who proudly wore the liberal label -- in making the case for progressives taking some bitter pills.

"So there is a strain, at least in Illinois progressive politics, of conservatism and fiscal sanity when it comes to spending issues," Durbin said.

Durbin is a key player in the fiscal cliff negotiations. He is the No. 2 leader in the Senate, but more important in this context, he was a member of the Simpson-Bowles Commission and part of the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" wrestling with deficit reduction for some two years.

A quick reminder on Simpson-Bowles: That's the 18-member panel Obama created to figure out future spending, tax and deficit policy. A report by the group on Dec. 3, 2010, failed to win the 14 votes needed for a final endorsement -- though many in fiscal circles thought the pain was spread around.

There were schisms on both sides of the aisle; progressives -- such as Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who was also part of the panel -- were not convinced the social safety net programs were protected.

Two strong progressives split on this one: Durbin voted for, Schakowsky against Simpson-Bowles.

Now, almost two years later, Congress and the White House are at a fiscal brink, with a self-imposed deadline backed by draconian actions no one wants.

"Progressives cannot afford to stand on the sidelines in this fiscal cliff debate and to deny the obvious," Durbin said.

"Important critical decisions will be made soon that will affect this country for 10 years. I think we need to be part of this conversation, which means we need to be open to some topics and some issues that are painful and hard for us to talk about.

"We have to look to reform and change that is significant, that preserves many of the values and programs that brought us to political life, and we cannot believe that merely ignoring these programs or not engaging is going to solve a problem."

Durbin said he was asked by progressive friends why he was bothering to talk taxes and spending with conservative GOP senators who are "up to no good."

Replied Durbin, "being seated at the table, which do you think is a better place to be?"