September 18, 2011

Is President Obama, traveling about pushing his jobs bill, on "the campaign trail"?

I had to laugh watching "Meet the Press" today. David Gregory was doing the "roundtable" section of the show, talking to Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Helene Cooper of The New York Times, and Mark Halperin of Time magazine.

Castellanos said:
[T]he president is running, I think, a very strange campaign for re-election.  He is running around the country, in fact declaring his own impotence, saying that, "I'm weak.  I can't get anything done in Washington. Mommy, mommy, please make these Republicans play fair."
Gregory turned to Cooper and said:
I talked to some Republicans and Democrats on the Hill this week who said, "This seems like more of a political exercise, this jobs bill, than anything else." They haven't dropped the bill, by the way.  They haven't introduced the legislation yet; and yet, former President Clinton is saying, "Well, no.  This is really the key.  He's got a good plan." The chances of it passing are not very high.
And Cooper — who, we're told, is reporting on the White House every day — said:
[O]ne of the reasons they haven't dropped the jobs bill yet in Congress is because President Obama decided that he needed to go out and try to sell it first to the American public.
So... presumably, it's about drumming up public support for the jobs bill, which really is a jobs bill and not — as Gregory just put it — "more of a political exercise... than anything else."

Then Gregory dragged in Granholm — the super-polished Granholm, and she says:
[Obama has] got to put stuff out there that work--that works. ... So he's doing--he's adopting a plan that will create American jobs, both in the public and the private sector.  And that's exactly what he needs to trumpet.  And I just say, if the Republicans continue to say no to this reasonable plan, game on.
Game on? So... it is a political exercise?

Castellanos breaks in to say:
There's a little bit of a problem.  The American people have televisions and the Internet, and they can see what's going on....
Then there's an interlude about the new Ron Suskind book — which I just pre-ordered here — and Gregory lifts out a quote...
 "Over the past few months, [National Economic Council Chair Larry] Summers had said this, in a stage whisper, to [OMB Director Peter] Orszag and others as they left the morning economic briefings ...  `I mean it,' Summers stressed.  `We're home alone.  There's no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes.'"
Wow! That's hot. But Halperin lamely obfuscates, and Gregory goes back to Helene Cooper and asks her if "there [is] a broader vision for the economy that the president goes out and, and runs on?" And here's the part that made us laugh here at Meadhouse. Remember Cooper is the one who was careful to say: "President Obama decided that he needed to go out and try to sell [the jobs bill] first to the American public." And remember Granholm had bolstered that with her rejection of the notion that the jobs bill is "more of a political exercise... than anything else." And Cooper says:
I think there is, and he's, he's, he's, he's put that [broader vision] out there with his, his jobs proposal. And he said, "These are the things I think we need to do." But he's, he's very much hampered by the political reality of where we are right now. That said, I wouldn't--I, I was out on the--not the campaign trail, that's a very--but I was out with him this week as he went to try to pass his jobs bill in Columbus, Ohio, and in Raleigh, North Carolina....
Ha ha. It's all about Obama's reelection! As  Castellanos said: The American people have televisions and the Internet, and they can see what's going on. 

"[N]ot the campaign trail, that's a very..."... Cooper couldn't come up with the right euphemism for "campaign trail" or even the right words to follow "that's a very" that would express, with appropriate euphony, the reason why she's sorry she said "campaign trail."

Game on!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Returned from a K-street jamboree. Watched the "Drive" with the gang. The movie's soundtrack, Tick of the Clock, is how the POTUS Obama re-election campaign theme. Slowly moving and rapidly taking everyone's attention. The campaign is wrapper (music + press) that will convince the voter to ignore the GOP. The Job bill tomorrow event will be a spectacular event. Just like the music in Drive.

James said...

Granholm did such a fine job in Michigan.

Synova said...

Thing is, Obama did this end-o sort of thing immediately after he was elected. In order to get anything done in congress he went to the American people and asked *them* to make congress do things his way. He even did that when the Democrats had a majority in both houses.

Do I misremember? First thing, Organize America, call your congressperson, report fellow citizens, I mean, anti-Obama lies to a government run website...

I sort of hesitate to add that last except that he did both things, right off the bat, both have to do with direct engagement with citizens. Perhaps they are related after all.

Carol_Herman said...

It's a "topic."

Obama "spoke about it."

He can say he hasn't ducked the issue. He brought the issue to Congress ... "and guess who" the villian is?

I'll give you 3 tries.

Toshstu said...

"The American people have televisions and the Internet, and they can see what's going on. "

We had internet and TV and all that, and Obama was elected.

m stone said...

I await the "spectacular event" and all that follows. Eagerly.

Castellanos may have made the seminal assessment of 2012: we have televisions and the internet, now even Gregory doing his job.

Game on.

mesquito said...

One of the happiest developments of my life has been the eclipse of the legacy media. Perhaps the 2008 election will be remembered as its Last Hurrah.

Anonymous said...

The re-election theme: Tick of the Clock. Like in the movie, field of dreams, people will be rapture and vote for the 2nd term. Just like that. The music, press, campaign, etc. all leading to the election. The GOP will just watch and watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPba6ry2czg

rapture the voters and lead them to the vote.

jobs event is the starting point.

watch what happens.

xnar said...

>>We had internet and TV and all that, and Obama was elected.

But now everyone sees the emperor has not clothes, and the press have pulled their skirts up for him.

It's rather disgusting and we have 14 more months. When Nominee Christie is on the stage with Obama and demonstrates his impotence and hollowness - it will get very ugly indeed.

traditionalguy said...

The televison and the internet has not changed, but the veil over the viewer's eyes has been removed.

The loving smile of the first black President had everyone in a stupor as if hypnotized by the experience.

Well enough fingers have been snapped by Palin, Joe Wilson, Ed Koch that everyone is waking up and saying what happened.

edutcher said...

I'm getting to a point where I almost feel sorry for David Gregory and all the Lefty morons in the media who hitched their star to the "Sort of God".

Almost.

Especially now that their brand is welded to his.

And there's also this, "`I mean it,' Summers stressed. `We're home alone. There's no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes."

Summers thinks Willie was one of the adults?

If so, why was everyone - even the media - so glad the "adults" were in charge after 9/11?

Willie helped manufacture this mess and papered over the many things that were bad at the time.

A. Shmendrik said...

James said...
Granholm did such a fine job in Michigan.


I recall how the press treated her in 2002. They thought her shit didn't stink and were talking about a move to amend the Constitution so she could serve as President. Ha!

ricpic said...

Obama: Jobs bill, stimulus bill, I don't care as long as I get to tax the effin crap outta the billionaires, no, the millionaires, no, the two hundred thousandaires, ya know, the Geedamn RICH!!!

I'm Full of Soup said...

I saw Bill Clinton on one of the shows this morning Alhouse. He had nothing much to say - sounded like he has no gas left in his tank. Looks ancient too.

Conserve Liberty said...

Yawn.

Dhimmigod.

ignatzk said...

Gregory, the pusillanimous parakeet tried puffing his feathers over Mitch McConnell only to remind us once again he is no Tim Russert.

I had the exact same reaction to Cooper over her slip. Does it seem like there are more of these everyday from the MSM?

Even Clinton's wonk routine seemed tired, another burnt weenie sandwich that you quietly slip in the trash after the first bite.

Ralph L said...

"Over the past few months, [National Economic Council Chair Larry] Summers had said this
Goodness, he's a slow talker.

MayBee said...

Do I misremember? First thing, Organize America, call your congressperson,

You're right. It was exactly that way. He had OfA out there trying to get people to sign pledges to support Obama's Health Care Bill, even though none had been written. The pledges were to be sent to Congress to pressure them.
He also had OfA sending out requests for people to put pressure on Congress for a public option. That was always weird because Obama never dared really push that. He was obviously willing to live with whatever Congress decided on that issue.


ps. In a just world, Jennifer Granholm would be laughed off any political discussion panel. What in the world does she know about what works?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Maybee:

Good point- Granholm is a former governor for a failed state or a failed governor from a down and out state. Either way, she has no success story to tell.

David said...

Well good for you to hang in through that entire discussion Althouse. Meet the Press used to be a weekly watch for me. No more, not for years. Maybe it was always this ridiculous and I just didn't notice. I do dislike losing respect for so much that once seemed important and interesting.

Joanna said...

"I'm weak. I can't get anything done in Washington. Mommy, mommy, please make these Republicans play fair."

Hmm. That reminds me of another quote...
"Teachers, former playmates and friends recall a boy who never fully grasped their language and who was very quiet as a result. But one word Obama learned quickly in his new home was curang, which means "cheater." When kids teased him, Obama yelled back, "Curang, curang!" When a friend gave him shrimp paste instead of chocolate, he yelled, "Curang, curang!""

rhhardin said...

Campaign trail must be a euphemism for pandering to ignorance.

The signs are though that Obama is the chief ignorant, which is why the economy shutting down.

So he's not campaigning, just stupid.

Issob Morocco said...

I would posit that Jennifer Graholm is the female equivalent of Obama. Not much behind the luxurious, sophisticated, shiny veneer.

Having her provide feedback on Obama Jobs Bill is truly the blind commenting on the work of the blind.

FleetUSA said...

Thank you Ann Althouse for all you do in presenting these snippets and adding coherent and interesting comments.

I'm going to your site first....Drudge and Lucianne much later.

Thank you!

ndspinelli said...

David "Howdy Doody" Gregory is a lap dog, and attack dog when needed, for the current administration. That's why he was hired.

roesch-voltaire said...

This from the CEO of Google:
You have a situation where the private sector sees essentially no growth in demand. The classic solution is to have the government step in and, with short-term initiatives, help stimulate that demand. If they do it right, they'll invest in income and growth-producing things like highways and bridges and schools, new opportunities for the private sector to go then build businesses.
Obama is not the only one suggesting the govt needs to help stimulate jobs and demand it seems.

Unknown said...

roesch-voltaire -

"If they do it right, they'll invest in income and growth-producing things like highways and bridges and schools, new opportunities for the private sector to go then build businesses.
Obama is not the only one suggesting the govt needs to help stimulate jobs and demand it seems."

One simple question Roesch, did he do it right last time? Did he do the above successfully, yes or no?