The new GOP charm offensive also underscores the limitations of the president's previous strategy, which centered on using public pressure to win Republican cooperation, not negotiations with lawmakers.
In recent years it has been involved in controversy over issues such as whether registration of Native American sports team names (Washington Redskins) is offensive to the public good, or a good and permissible defensive strategy by the NFL and the team.
General Jack Keane - former vice chief of the US Army and the architect of the "surge strategy" in Iraq - told the BBC that the object of the new offensive was to "take momentum" away from the Taliban.