Some suds and symbolism at White House brew-klatch

WASHINGTON - Different suds for different buds?

Each man's beer of choice was respectfully made available in glass mugs for their meeting at a table on the White House South Lawn yesterday evening: Bud Light for President Obama, Sam Adams Light for Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Blue Moon for Sgt. James Crowley.

Vice President Biden, who does not drink, joined the group with a glass of Buckler, a nonalcoholic beer.

Speaking after the meeting, Crowley described himself and Gates as "two gentlemen who agreed to disagree" about the confrontation that led to Gates' arrest.

Crowley, a police officer in Cambridge, Mass., said that the conversation centered on moving forward, not reliving the events of the last two weeks, and that they plan more meetings.

Said Obama after the 40-minute chat on the Rose Garden patio: "I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart.

"I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode."

The high-profile happy hour with a black professor, a white police officer, and the nation's biracial president and white vice president won't erase the tensions that led to it.

Initially last week, Obama said that the police "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates for lashing out at them after they showed up to see if he had broken into what turned out to be his own home. In saying that, the president polarized Americans, enraged police, went off-message on health care, and lost standing with the public.

A Pew poll released yesterday found that four in five Americans were aware of his remarks - and disapproved of them by 41 percent to 29 percent. Among whites, the split was 2-1 against him, and hurt his overall approval rating. Obama's support among whites fell after his comments from 53 percent to 46 percent in a couple of days. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Last week, Obama quickly declared his first reaction unhelpful, professed his appreciation for police, and allowed that Gates also bore responsibility for escalating things. The president called it a "teachable moment" and set up yesterday evening's meeting.

Journalists were summoned to take pictures of the staged event, but not to ask questions or listen to the conversation.

Gates and Crowley were permitted to come early for the 6 p.m. affair, bring entourages including family members, tour the White House, and take official photos.

Before the meeting, Crowley told Boston's WHDH-TV that the ground rules for the session were that there would be no rehashing of the arrest or apologies to be demanded or made.

"Right now I just want to get back to work, get back to doing what it is I do, and get back to being a dad to my three children," Crowley told the TV station.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the meeting was worthwhile "even if you're not able to hear each and every word of it," and that such a dialogue "is what has to happen at every level of our society."

"I don't think the president has outsize expectations that one cold beer at one table here is going to change massively the course of human history," Gibbs said. But Gibbs hoped the images would "provide a far different picture than what we've seen to date of this situation."

Gates released a statement last night saying that he was hopeful the experience would prove to be an "occasion for education, not recrimination." He said the burden now rested with him and Crowley to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears among African Americans over racial profiling.