On his way out the congressional door, Rep. Marion Berry takes a shot at Obama, relating a conversation in which the president suggested that the Democrats need not fear a 1994-style backlash because they had a secret weapon: Him. No, honestly. Berry relates the White House conversation:

Berry recounted meetings with White House officials, reminiscent of some during the Clinton days, where he and others urged them not to force Blue Dogs “off into that swamp” of supporting bills that would be unpopular with voters back home.

“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”

Yikes. The hubris, even for Obama, is jaw-dropping. Not only does he imagine that he can immunize his allies from the vicissitudes of public opinion, but he evidences no recognition of the possibility that he and his policies might be the cause of the ensuing tidal wave.

Now we don’t know whether the conversation was recent or much earlier in the year, when the comments could have seemed less otherworldly. But if accurate (and especially if more recent), the conversation does provide some insight into the narcissism that gushes from the Oval Office. Moreover, it suggests that changing course,which would require some humility on the president’s part, may be a Herculean undertaking for those Democrats who must realize they have a wipe-out election looming — and a president who imagines with a wave of his hand that he can obviate disaster for his party.