One Republican Senator told ABC News that he thought this meeting did the president more harm than good, because the testy exchanges the president had with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, revealed someone who took these disagreements personally. I’ve never heard anyone use the word “I” so much, the senator said…

Corker used the word “audacity” to describe the president’s attitude; he felt the president was using Senate Republicans “as props” to try to show himself as being bipartisan while legislating in a very partisan way. How do you rectify that “duplicity?” Corker asked. There is a huge disconnect between what you say about bipartisanship and how your administration actually acts.

This seemed to hit a nerve with the president, Republicans said, who responded showing flashes of anger.

A White House source acknowledged that President Obama gave a “forceful response.”

Do you think I just want 60 votes? the president asked. I’d love to get 70 or 80 votes on everything. But I wasn’t going to run up the score on votes at the expense of watering down the bill.