Tagged: Washington D.C.

President Obama hosts Mitt Romney for a private lunch at the White House today, little more than three weeks after their bitter election fight ended.

Yes, Obama did say at a post-election news conference that he hoped to "get ideas with him and see if there's some ways we can potentially work together."

But is cooperation with a former opponent really possible?

It's not without precedent, says Scott Farris, author of Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation.

The 2012 presidential contenders will break bread at the White House on Thursday.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney "will have a private lunch at the White House with President Obama in the Private Dining Room," the White House says in a statement sent to reporters. "It will be the first opportunity they have had to visit since the election. There will be no press coverage of the meeting."

Update at 2:32 p.m. ET:

Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, President Obama clearly related his own redemption this month to the turkeys he pardoned.

"They say that life is all about second chances, and this November I could not agree more," he said at the pardon ceremony. "The American people have spoken, and these birds are moving forward."

Presidential pardons usually take the world by surprise. There's no advance notice — the White House just sends out an announcement with the names of those receiving clemency. Thanksgiving is one lighthearted exception.

On Wednesday, President Obama will once again take part in the traditional turkey pardoning at the White House. But while the business of pardoning humans is more serious, it's also increasingly rare.