Dionne derails Gregory's segment on Obama 'leadership': You mean 'adopt Republican positions'

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne threw cold water on NBC host David Gregory segment's calling for more "leadership" from President Barack Obama on Sunday when he explained that people were mistaking the "leadership" for capitulating to Republicans' demands.

During an NBC's Meet the Press segment titled "Presidential Leadership," Gregory wanted to know when Obama was going to "demonstrate he can bring along converts to his side and actually get something meaningful accomplished."

MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell agreed that leadership was the "real test" for the president.

"The question he's never answered in all these years is, 'How do I build a government majority in this circumstance?'" New York Times columnist David Brooks opined. "He's got 40 House Republicans who are never going to be with him. How does his siphon them off and get the other Republicans on his side to get a majority coalition? You have to anger the left a little to build that bipartisan coalition."

Dionne, however, concluded the segment by disputing its entire premise.

"A lot of times, though, when people say the president should lead, what they want him to do is adopt Republican positions and then push for those," Dionne explained. "That's not leadership, that's capitulation."

"I think we should stop talking about a Grand Bargain and try to have normal government in the next two months."

Watch the video below from NBC's Meet the Press, recorded Oct. 20, 2013.