Pat Dollard

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Excerpted From Politico:

After business leaders sank millions into the midterms to defeat Democrats, a chastened Obama administration is seeking reconciliation with the corporate community.

But after two years of building frustration, the executives say they won’t be won over by another round of private lunches and photo opportunities at the White House.

If President Barack Obama has any hope for a truce with corporate America in time for his 2012 reelection campaign, he needs to drop the name-calling, try to see their point of view…

“No amount of (so-called) relationship-building is a substitute for policy,” said Johanna Schneider, executive director for external affairs at the Business Roundtable, which was once one of the administration’s most enduring corporate allies.

“We have to see some concrete policies that will help grow business because everyone’s goal is to grow jobs. This isn’t hocus-pocus. There are concrete steps to take for job growth,” she added.

The White House is embarking on a new round of corporate outreach, said Valerie Jarrett, a key White House adviser, who told POLITICO in an interview that she is lining up a fresh round of private, luncheon sessions and that other events could be in the works.

The White House is also mulling over an Obama appearance at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — even though the group spent about $75 million attacking Democrats and assisting the Republican takeover of the House. (See: Obama plans truce with Chamber)

“Our position moving forward is to find as many opportunities as possible to interact with the business community,” said Jarrett. “The president is very interested in the coming weeks in hearing additional input from the business community.”

But the stakes for Obama couldn’t be higher, economically or politically, in rebuilding relations. Cooperation with the business community is vital for job growth and economic recovery.

Other administration officials are also reaching out.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met privately with Chamber President Tom Donohue during the White House Asia trade trip and appeared before the Chamber’s board a week after the midterms — a striking departure from a White House-Chamber feud that briefly grabbed headlines last year and during those very same elections.

On Dec. 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are scheduled to meet with the Business Roundtable, an association that includes the CEOs of the nation’s largest companies.

But there have been some bumps along the way.

Last week, Treasury’s Gene Sperling appeared at a retreat for technology executives. “He expressed a desire to work closely,” said one attendee. “Then, when we brought up the issue of repatriation [the opportunity for corporations to bring overseas earnings back to the U.S. at lower tax rates], he openly showed frustration with us for just bringing the subject up.”

It’s a complaint heard often from the business community. “Access isn’t the issue. The question is: Where is the delivery?” said one corporate representative who, like others, sought anonymity to speak freely.

Greg Brown, CEO of Motorola and an administration ally, said the White House had to take necessary but politically difficult steps to stabilize the economy. But he also noted, “Now that we are moving from stability to growth, I think there is an acknowledgment that the relationship needs to get closer and we collectively need to find common ground.”

To achieve that, the White House must overcome a hefty wariness in the business community about Obama’s populist bent that exploded into open warfare during the midterms when wealthy individuals and corporations spent more than $200 million trying to defeat Democrats.

“The amount of money they spent was rather stunning,” said an administration official.

One of the most striking break-ups of 2010 was between Obama and the Business Roundtable.

From the start of his administration, Obama framed the coalition of CEOs as the grown-up alternative to the Chamber. In turn, the Roundtable CEOs made a conscious decision to try to work with the White House.

But as final negotiations over health care heated up earlier this year and several of their concerns were left unresolved, frustrated voices dominated the monthly CEO meetings. They grew even louder when the White House turned to Wall Street regulatory reform.

Still, the CEOs voted in February, March, April and May to stay at the table. In June, they gave up.

The Roundtable’s Schneider conceded that “the tone and tenor of the dialogue wasn’t as collegial as one might have hoped.” But she said the trade group kept up a dialogue with the White House and that several Roundtable CEOs were on Obama’s recent Asia trip, which became “an important relationship-building effort.”

Other executives complain that the White House continually promised a “hard pivot” to job creation and the economy that never fully materialized, at least not in a way that made corporate America feel it could be part of the solution.

“There was no challenge to come work together for a common purpose,” one executive said. “There was never a call for weekly conference calls with the president and demands to go get stuff done. That’s the power he has as president. And instead they kept pushing people away.”