Report: Strains growing between Obama, Senate Dems

Relations between President Barack Obama and the Senate  Democratic caucus led by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada "are deteriorating along with (Obama's) poll numbers," The Hill reports this morning.

The causes of the friction "can seem slight,"  according to reporter Alexander Bolton of the Capitol Hill newspaper.  Most recently,  "Obama left his party's top senators ..... hanging on the phone for nearly 20 minutes" waiting for what turned out to be a vague conference call with White House adviser Gene Sperling.

"Obama and Reid speak frequently on the phone but the conversations can be terse," Bolton reports.  "One Democratic source quipped that it's often a contest to guess who will hang up on the other first."   Reid of course, is famous for not saying goodbye when he ends calls.

Bolton catalogs seeming cracks in the relationship between Obama and Reid, his most important ally in Congress.  Those include their differences on trade bills and the majority leader's decision to move forward this week on a bill slapping China for currency manipulation, legislation the White House does not support.