A little pressure, perhaps?

Two Democrats from North Carolina — neither of them on board with the health reform bill — were invited to the Rose Garden ceremony this morning to glad-hand with President Barack Obama.

Obama signed the new jobs bill, which would give tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed workers and would extend the federal bridge and roads construction program, Barb Barrett reports.

On hand were Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, along with fewer than two dozen other members of Congress. Among them were U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge of Lillington and Larry Kissell of Biscoe.

Kissell has said he’ll oppose the health reform measure expected to be decided this weekend in the House of Representatives. Etheridge still counts himself undecided, though he made a plea for some kind of reform in a speech Wednesday on the House floor.

Obama has been doing what he can to bring the House total to 216, and a little perk like a White House invite sends a signal to House members that the president has their back.

(Etheridge also helped manage the House floor debate on the jobs bill, and had earlier offered his own version of a jobs tax credit.)

The invitation, on top of Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to North Carolina today, tells Etheridge, Kissell and any other wavering N.C. Democrats that the administration supports them.

In the Rose Garden, Obama begin his short remarks with a push for the health bill. Most in the audience — including Etheridge — applauded.

From where Dome was standing among the press pool, it looked as though Kissell did not.