The Phillies will finally make their much-anticipated visit to the White House to mingle with President Barack Obama today.

The Phils are back in the nation’s capital for a weekend series with the Nationals. You might remember the team was supposed to do the White House last month, but it was postponed after the death of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas.

Jimmy Rollins will offer the president a gift from the team. Exactly what they will be is something of a secret.

Maybe Obama can offer the Phils a gift in return.

A little stimulus would be nice.

The Phils continued their offensive woes yesterday, getting just one hit out of the first four spots in their lineup. That came from Rollins, who was back in his familiar leadoff spot. He doubled and scored.

The Phils managed all of five hits against the Dodgers, but did rally in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, 3-3. Of course the Dodgers promptly scored two runs in the top of the 10th and took a 5-3 win.

There were o-fers for Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.

The Phils are now two games behind the Mets in the NL East race. Yes, it’s early.

But we were saying much the same thing about this team a month ago when they were first preparing for their White House visit.

Yeah, a stimulus plan might be just what this team needs.