Research Briefing

THE WHITE HOUSE TAKES A TURN FOR THE WORSE

Why Is The White House Doubling Down On Failed Strategy Of Constant Campaigning? Because It’s All They Know How To Do

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I Know It's An Election Year.  …[I]t's Clear That Campaign Fever Has Come Even Earlier Than Usual.  But We Still Need To Govern.” (President Barack Obama, State Of The Union Address, Washington, DC, 1/27/10)

OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE DOUBLING DOWN ON FAILED STRATEGY OF PERPETUAL CAMPAIGN

Obama’s Campaign Fever Goes Airborne This Week As He Takes To The Trail For Sens. Harry Reid And Michael Bennet. “President Barack Obama will head west next week to campaign for two Democratic senators facing tough re-election. Obama will travel to Denver Thursday to speak at a fundraiser for Sen. Michael Bennet. … Obama will then travel to Las Vegas to attend a Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday night before events Friday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.” (“Obama to hit campaign trail for Democratic Sens. Reid, Bennet,” The Associated Press, 2/12/10)

White House Says New Communications Strategy Will Be “Aggressive Response” To “Political Adversaries.” “White House officials are retooling the administration's communications strategy to produce faster responses to political adversaries, a more disciplined focus on President Obama's call for ‘change’ in Washington and an increasingly selective use of the president's time. … Senior White House aides described the changes as an aggressive response, aimed at producing fresh momentum for the president's faltering agenda and regaining the advantage ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November.” (Michael D. Shear, “White House Revamps Communications Strategy,” The Washington Post, 2/15/10)

• Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Said White House Needs “Sharper Communication” To Fight “Daily … Battles.” “Press secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House team struggled in 2009 to adapt to a political environment that demanded daily communication battles. ‘We have to adjust in many ways to the fact that in the campaign we always took the long view,’ he said. ‘This is an environment that calls for sharper communication.’” (Michael D. Shear, “White House Revamps Communications Strategy,” The Washington Post, 2/15/10)

But White House Has Been In “Campaign Mode” All Along, “Running A Taxpayer-Funded Rapid-Response Operation.” “Many Obama loyalists from the 2008 race still seem, after a year on the job, to be having trouble exiting campaign mode. They sometimes appear to be running a taxpayer-funded rapid-response operation.” (Dana Milbank, Op-Ed, “White House's Gibbs Has Mastered Art Of Speaking With His Hand,” The Washington Post, 01/20/10)

• “Every president needs campaign experts. But every president also needs people who know how to slip off to the private meeting and bring leaders together in ways that also bring the country together.” (Clarence Page, Op-Ed, “Obama Outs Fox, But Reveals A Big Flaw,” Chicago Tribune, 10/25/09)

And Obama Even Bringing Back Campaign Manager David Plouffe As A Senior White House Advisor. “David Plouffe, who led Barack Obama's winning campaign for the White House, will play a larger role in advising the president as reeling Democrats try to rally in this important election year. Plouffe's primary job on behalf of the White House will be to devise, coordinate and analyze strategies for the House, Senate and governor's races in November, according to an administration official.” (Ben Feller, “Plouffe To Play Expanded Advisory Role For Obama,” The Associated Press, 1/23/10)

BECAUSE THE PERPETUAL CAMPAIGN IS ALL THEY KNOW HOW TO DO, WANT TO DO

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D-CT): “The Idea That The Administration Made Such A Major Point A Week Or So Ago Seemed To Many To Be Transparently Political And Not Substantive. And It’s Adding To The Problems Of Trying To Get A Bill Done.” (Sen. Chris Dodd, Opening Remarks At Senate Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs Committee Hearing, Washington, DC, 2/2/10)

White House Is Using Obama’s Savings Tax As “Political Weapon.” “[E]vents Friday in Massachusetts showed how the White House and top Democrats aim to use the bank tax as a political weapon: Senate candidate Martha Coakley, Vice President Joe Biden and others used the issue to portray Ms. Coakley, who is vying to succeed the late Edward Kennedy, as tough on bank executives and portray Republican Scott Brown as coddling them.” (Peter Wallsten, “Bank Tax Is Centerpiece Of Party’s New Populism,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/16/10)

Desperate For A Political Victory On Health Care, White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel Urged Sen. Harry Reid To Cut Back Room Deals To “Pass Any Health Care Bill, No Matter How Weak.” “Rahm Emanuel visited Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his Capitol office on Sunday evening and personally urged him to cut a deal with recalcitrant Sen. Joe Lieberman, two Democratic sources familiar with the situation told the Huffington Post. Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, has long been identified as leading a faction of White House advisers who have been pushing the Senate simply to pass any health care bill, no matter how weak.” (Ryan Grim, “Rahm Emanuel Personally Pressed Reid To Cut Deal With Lieberman: Sources,” The Huffington Post, 12/14/09)

Obama “Violated” His Pledge For Transparency By Negotiating “Multibillion-Dollar Deals … In Private” To Try To Ram Healthcare Through. “Even the process has violated one campaign pledge. ‘We’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies,’ Obama said. That hasn’t happened. Instead, Democrats in Congress and the White House have made multibillion-dollar deals with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies in private.” (Philip Elliott, “PROMISES, PROMISES: Many Obama Pledges Unkept,” The Associated Press, 1/14/10)

While President Obama Was Calling For End To “Perpetual Campaign” In State Of The Union,” DNC Was Sending Out Press Releases Attacking Republicans. “‘We can't wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side -- a belief that if you lose, I win,’ President Obama said last night his State of the Union address. But 14 minutes before Obama's speech ended, the Democratic National Committee had clipped some reaction video from the Republican side of the chamber and sent it to reporters with an embarrassing headline. ‘Republicans Sit on Hands as POTUS Calls for Banks to Pay Back Bailout Funds,’ was the subject line on a 10:06 p.m. press release from the DNC, along with the first of several Web videos showcasing Republican reactions during the speech.” (Christina Bellantoni, “Obama SOTU Calls For End To 'Perpetual Campaign' As Dem Rapid Response Hits GOP Speech Reax,” Talking Points Memo, 1/28/10)

• The DNC “Somehow Caught Each” Of The “GOP Traps In The Speech.” “There were several potential GOP traps in the speech, and the DNC somehow caught each, and clipped them into Web videos like this one: ‘No Republicans Stand for Passing a Jobs Bill.’ And this one: ‘No Republicans Stand for Small Business Tax Cut.’ You get the idea.” (Christina Bellantoni, “Obama SOTU Calls For End To 'Perpetual Campaign' As Dem Rapid Response Hits GOP Speech Reax,” Talking Points Memo, 1/28/10)