columnist for "the wall street journal" peggy noonan and "washington post" associate journal" peggy noonan and "washington post" associate editor, bob woodward. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. before departing to hawaii to join his family for the christmas holiday, the president picked up several major legislative victories during this lame duck session of congress, repeal of the ban on gays in the military and the s.t.a.r.t. arms control treaty with russia. >> a lot of folks in this town predicted that after the mid-term elections, washington would be headed for more partisanship and more gridlock. instead, this has been a season of progress for the american people. >> and here to talk with us about the president's agenda, heading into 2011, top white house adviser and close friend of the president, valerie jarrett. happy holidays, valerie and welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you, david. >> the president was talking about a shellacking that he was responsible for in the mid-term election and then to victories in the lame duck session. what happene

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. >> rose: and the president's tone in all of this, i saw another piece by peggy noonan attack the president basically saying, you know, basically saying that he was saying i don't want to do this, this is the wrong thing to do, but i have to do t i have no choice. >> i think that is right. one of the things he learned i think, i think i can speak with somewhat informed view on this, is that you know, you come into the white house thinking you can pretty much run things. you're the president. but you learn you need outside institution, you need a lot of outside help. so you can't run the country on its own despite the cult of the presidency that sometimes develops. so he just couldn't-- he has to negotiate. he has his views. but other people get a say. and being president is about building bridges. i think he did a pretty good job of building bridges. now his tone in the press conference this week was fascinating. >> rose: yeah. >> because he was so exasperated everybody left and right, sanctimonious, purists, hostage takers, blackmailers. >> rose: that is what she was speaking to and what i

. >> and when he had that press conference a week ago today, peggy noonan wrote in "the wall street journal last week, she wrote instead of graciously scored the negotiators, he hates the deal. he hates the people he made the deal with and he hates it when people criticize him. that's kind of what brit hume said last night on bill o'reilly. listen. >> to learn a little bit more about how to go about this -- this dance we call triangulation which the president facing a -- a partly hostile congress and the skeptical electorate and a -- and a potentially restless base places himself somewhere where he's not quite with one and not quite with the other but in part with both, that's triangulation and that's what bill clinton did. if the president is going to do it, he needs to do it in such a way if he reaches a deal, seems to like it, to believe in it and be gracious about it. >> i think what we just heard the president say before brit hume, that he had seen some of what people had said in these op eds and that he did attempt, then, to come back and make it sound like he liked it a little better