WASHINGTON (AP) - For eight years, liberal Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle did not step foot in the White House.

That changed Tuesday as he and other liberals met with President Barack Obama at the White House to talk about health care reform. McDermott was one of three dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to meet with the president for about an hour. Most of the talk was on health care reform; lawmakers also pressed Obama on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McDermott was the only lawmaker from the Pacific Northwest to attend the meeting.

The 11-term Democrat said he and his fellow liberals stressed the importance of including a public component in a comprehensive health reform bill being considered in Congress. One idea would extend eligibility for Medicare to those 50 and older.

Obama seemed sympathetic but made no commitments, McDermott said.

"The president said, 'You know I want a bill. The kind of bill you're discussing is the one I really want,' " McDermott said, referring to a public component for health care.

Obama told the lawmakers their task was not going to be easy and that he had no illusions he would get everything he is seeking, McDermott said.

McDermott said he told the president he was in Congress the last time a major push was made for health reform in 1993: "So you don't have to tell me about hard to get."

McDermott said he was delighted to be back at the White House and pleased at Obama's willingness to talk with lawmakers who could pose a political problem for him, by pushing him left of center.

"We all know it's a heavy lift," he said, referring to efforts to pass comprehensive health care reform. "We just want to know he's with us."

Sometimes, he added, presidents are willing to sacrifice their allies to score political points.

"We wanted to take the temperature," McDermott said, "and it felt good."