It's only week three of the Obama administration, so I find it kind of amusing when news anchors say things like, "Has the Obama administration lost control of [insert agenda item]?"

That said...it's hard to deny that the Obama administration appears to have lost control of the conversation on the stimulus bill...if indeed it ever had such control.

I work in a newsroom, and we have a bank of televisions tuned to several news channels. And every night, all night, they carry discussions of what's wrong with the Obama/Democratic stimulus bill. Sometimes there's a Democrat there, more often a Democratic pundit, who says the economy is in crisis and something needs to be done.

But here's the thing: I'm a pretty informed guy. I consume news voraciously. I know something needs to be done. I don't know why this particular stimulus package deserves my support. Frankly, I don't even know exactly what's in it. I know what Republicans want to be in the bill. I know what Republicans don't like about the bill. But I have yet to see or hear a Democratic member of Congress out on the news shows explaining what exactly is in the bill and why these specific things will be good for us Americans.

I understand that Obama wants to remain open to changes advocated by Republicans. But you've got to sell your version first.

Working in a newsroom, I understand this isn't all Democrats' fault. Media will go for controversy by default. When a plan comes out, the first thing a producer asks is, "Ok, who opposes this plan?" And the Republicans are more than happy to oblige.

And, let me add that I think I understand Obama's behind-the-scenes strategy and it has potential. By wining and dining Republicans at the White House, he is trying to change the tone, make Republican moderates feel comfortable working with him. This could yield some results, as personal relationships in Washington count for a lot. Did you see Susan Collins beaming on her way out of a WH meeting today? She told reporters she and Obama had a substantive discussion, and she went on to name a couple of perfectly reasonable things about which she had concerns (e.g., State Department upgrades - sure, could create a couple jobs, but shouldn't it go through the normal appropriations process?).

Changing the tone, and the benefits it could bring, are going to take a long time after so many years of partisan hatred. But unilateral disarmament is one thing when it comes to White House cocktail parties - quite another when it comes to shaping public opinion. If this stimulus is full of things on which Obama campaigned, we need to know about it, so we can embrace it. The perception of this bill when it's passed may well have an impact on how well it's perceived to work down the road. I don't want to feel like we as a country are grudgingly accepting this bill. If it doesn't work as well as expected, people may start remembering all those Republicans they saw on the TV warning them about it (and the fact that their warnings were intellectually dishonest won't matter by then).