Obama, looking to mend fences with Congress, is reaching out. To Democrats.

President Obama and his closest aides have determined that their best chance of success in the next two years will depend on improved relationships on Capitol Hill, but their behind-the-scenes efforts are more focused on Obamas own party rather than the Republicans who are about to take full charge of Congress in January.

Obamas attention on congressional Democrats, allies whom he once regarded as needing little attention, marks a shift in his view on how to deal with Congress. The president now sees his path to success as running through Hill Democrats, a group that has been disenchanted by the treatment it has received from the White House over the years.

The remedial work has included frequent calls to Democratic leaders since the midterm elections and comes as Republicans prepare to take control of both chambers for the first time since Obama took office. While the president and GOP leaders have pledged to seek common ground, Obamas use of executive action to alter immigration enforcement procedures and other steps have already angered Republicans, making significant legislative accomplishments more difficult.

And White House officials are looking to Hill Democrats as a defense against Republican efforts to undo key elements of Obamas legislative legacy, including the Affordable Care Act, his immigration action and climate policy.

The presidents ability to sustain the vetoes he is likely to issue will depend on whether he is able to mend relations with congressional Democrats many of whom blame the president for the partys large midterm losses and persuade Republican legislators to work with him in a way that has eluded the two parties for the past six years.

On Wednesday, the outreach effort began publicly as Obama hosted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who will lead the Senate starting in January in the Oval Office. It was the first time the two have met one on one for an extended period in more than four years. The most recent small gathering they had was with Vice President Biden, nearly 3 1/2 years ago.

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart called the session a good meeting but did not release additional details.

By contrast, House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) has been in near-constant communication with the White House since the midterm elections. He received back-to-back calls from Obama on Nov.24 and 25, the first to discuss the administrations handling of sanctions against Iran amid ongoing negotiations over that nations nuclear program, and the second to confer on the two mens shared opposition to a pending proposal extending a series of federal tax breaks.

In the past couple of months, Ive seen heightened outreach, Hoyer said in an interview Tuesday. To some degree, we become even more relevant than we were before. Now he needs to rely on both houses to sustain a veto.

Those are not the only calls Hoyer has received from the White House recently. Obamas chief of staff, Denis McDonough who paid a visit to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called Hoyer on Nov.13 to discuss an effort by lawmakers to force federal approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and on Nov.25 to talk about tax policy. The White House legislative-affairs staff also called him Nov.6 to discuss immigration policy, a day after Obama called him at home in the evening to discuss immigration and ongoing efforts to counter the Islamic State.

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Obama, looking to mend fences with Congress, is reaching out. To Democrats.