DaytonDailyNews.com

Did you catch the pictures of the assembled muckety-mucks in Washington the other day, wherein President-elect Barack Obama sat down with congressional leaders?

There was, for one, Rep. John Boehner. On C-Span, he was identified at the bottom of the screen as representing West Chester and Troy. Sometimes even locals have to be reminded that Rep. Boehner's district also dips down into east Dayton, from Miami County. He is leader of the House Republicans.

His Senate counterpart, also present, may not be as well-known in parts of Rep. Boehner's district as the congressman. But people who live in Butler County and follow the Cincinnati media see and hear the Kentuckian Mitch McConnell often because he represents the southern suburbs of Cincinnati.

So, even though Ohio is shut out of the Obama Cabinet, this region is hardly shut out of major power. Mr. Obama has awarded Republicans more power than their numbers alone accord them, with all his talk of the need for bipartisanship.

After the meeting, the two Republicans said they believed that the new president is eager to have a lot of Republican support for the super-duper stimulus package he is preparing. Sen. McConnell noted — as evidence of pursuit of Republican votes — that the proposal has evolved to include an expensive tax reduction.

Sen. McConnell suggested that whatever money goes to state governments should be loans, not grants. That has a certain logic. If the private entities getting federal money are expected to pay it back, why not the governments?

Rep. Boehner said Republicans are worried about the package being too big, fostering too much long-term debt. And he called for open debate in shaping it, as opposed to the Democrats working everything out behind closed doors.

Both men left observers believing that they are on board for something dramatic, so long as Republican voices are heard.

The president-elect is making

concessions that seem designed

with Republicans in mind, even aside from the tax cuts: offering tax benefits only to people who actually pay federal income taxes; promising transparency in the budget process; banning "earmarks."

It's a good direction. He needs to do more, to show that he recognizes that his power to borrow is not limitless. The 2009 mind-set in Washington — throw-money-at-the-problem — must be temporary. Otherwise, the government's efforts at recovery — at restoring confidence in the future of the economy — will not maximum impact.

The pending package is treacherous territory for Democrats and Republicans alike: Democrats, because they risk locking in for the rest of their careers the charge of big spending; Republicans, because they face making a mockery of their claims to fiscal conservatism.

The new president will need all the Republican support he can get. That support will minimize the carping later, when the stimulus proves to be working no miracles.

And it will set a tone for the future, for fights in which the president needs Republican help just to get bills passed.

The current discussion is about getting the new Washington off on the right foot. It's about Mr. Obama delivering on his promise to give the nation a respite from the mindless partisanship of recent years.

Messrs. McConnell and Boehner are used to functioning in a certain environment. They have thrived in it. The president-elect wants to change it. Their responses will likely shape their places in history more than anything that has gone before.