Under Pressure, Candidate Obama Hits The Road
Pres. Obama learned this week the first lesson of Washington Fight Club:
It doesn't take long for politics to get in the way of governing. No matter the election mandate, the promise of a post-partisan White House or the seriousness of the matter at hand (see global economic depression).
So as Obama works to gain Senate approval for his economic stimulus package, he is shifting to campaign mode, taking his pitch on the road. He'll do a town hall meeting in Elkhart, IN, Monday, and Fort Myers, FL, Tuesday. Swing state nation. Communities that are critical in deciding presidential elections, in states where senators might be doing a bit of fence sitting, reluctant to back Obama's $800B package.
Additionally, Obama will hold his first prime time press conference Monday evening. This week, meanwhile, he authored his first op-ed, a piece that ran yesterday in The Washington Post and urged congressional action:
What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.
Obama is as effective on the stump as any modern politician. So his willingness to take his plea to voters shows not necessarily a desperation -- though, as Senate leaders struggle to corral a filibuster-proof majority for the bill, that's a factor -- but an acknowledgement that campaign mode is where his finest political skills are on display. He'll likely remind voters that the GOP is holding up his recovery plan -- and by extensiona shot at helping to revive a floundering economy.
He can take control of the Inside the Beltway blame game that Republicans so ably manage by recasting the bill as belonging not to him, or the Democratic leadership, but to the American people. It's the fastest way to put the GOP back on its heels and reframe discussion of the proposal.
Obama took a shot at bipartisanship. He reached across the aisle and looked magnanimous because of this efforts. Soon he'll leave Washington to take shots at the Republicans as the do-nothing minority. Despite confusion around the bill, looming questions about whether it will or won't work and if it's too loaded with pork, the GOP will have to answer Obama's call to action with something other than a block of 'no' votes. Or they'll have to not respond to voters.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
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