in the Oval Office has been criticized for not doing enough mingling with his former colleagues and for not communicating all that well with them, period.

The Wednesday evening White House meeting was meant to address that. And by all reports, the meeting was a success.

"The group discussed their shared goals for 2014, and the President expressed his desire to continue to work together to advance a number of our priorities for the year to strengthen our economy, create jobs and build the middle class," said a White House statement after the meeting.

According to one report, the president even had cocktails outside the East Room with the lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it was a "wonderful meeting."

On MSNBC, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said Obama told Democrats theyhad a positive message to take into the midterm elections — that the health law is improving and producing some good news stories. The president also said championing issues like a higher minimum wage and overhauling immigration puts them on the right side of those policies as far as a majority of voters are concerned, according to Murphy's account.

For Senate Democrats, what's most important is that the president is putting his fundraising muscle into the midterm elections. In 2013, he did as many as 30 fundraisers for congressional candidates, compared with just a few in 2010 and 2012.

Obama has also turned over the tasks of keeping lawmakers informed of his administration's thinking, and of being his eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, to respected former congressional staffers Phil