Research Briefing

Obama Files Paperwork For The New Hampshire Primary He Lost In ’08 Because The Granite State Heeded The Warning Signs

“Vice President Joe Biden Will Be In New Hampshire [Today] To Submit The Papers On Behalf Of His Boss So President Obama Can Become An Official Candidate In New Hampshire’s First-In-The- Nation Primary.” (Shira Schoenberg, “Joe Biden Heading To N.H. To File For President Obama’s Reelection Campaign,” The Boston Globe’s  “Political Intelligence,” 10/17/11)

OBAMA’S PRIMARY OPPONENTS MADE STARTLINGLY PRESCIENT PREDICTIONS ABOUT “A PART-TIME STATE SENATOR” THAT WAS NOT READY TO SERVE

THEN: Then-Senator Biden Said Obama Is Not Ready To Serve As President. ABC’S GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “You were asked is he ready. You said ‘I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.’” SEN. BIDEN: “I think that I stand by the statement.” (ABC’s, “This Week,” 8/19/07)

• NOW: President Obama’s “Strangely Passive” Approach To Leadership Forms “An Unsettling Portrait Of A ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency.” “For a man who won office talking about change we can believe in, Barack Obama can be a strangely passive president. … Yet the dots connect to form an unsettling portrait of a ‘Where's Waldo?’ presidency: You frequently have to squint to find the White House amid the larger landscape.” (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ Presidency,” The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

THEN: Then-Senator Hillary Clinton: “[M]y Opponent Senator Obama Has Been Very Timid And Unenthusiastic About Doing Anything With The Economy.” (Aaron Bruns, “Clinton Claims She Never Said Obama Can’t Win,” Fox News' "Embed", 4/3/08)

• NOW: Obama Has “A Scattershot Record (At Best) Of Focusing On The Main Concern Of Main Street: Joblessness.” “Obama arrives at his reelection campaign not merely with a weak performance on Wall Street crime enforcement and reform but also with a scattershot record (at best) of focusing on the main concern of Main Street: joblessness.” (Frank Rich, “Obama’s Original Sin,” New York Magazine, 7/3/11)

THEN: Then-Senator Hillary Clinton: “He Was A Part-Time State Senator For A Few Years, And Then He Came To The Senate And Immediately Started Running For President.” (Molly Ball, “Clinton Pitch Hits Home,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1/11/08)

• NOW: Obama's White House Lives In The "Permanent Campaign.” WOODWARD: “But the political staff is -- you know, it's the permanent campaign.” (CNN's "Larry King Live," 10/3/10)

• NOW: Bob Woodward Noted That Everything To The Obama White House Is “Political” And That All They Focus On Immediately Is “The Political Impact.” CNN'S LARRY KING: “What do you make of this whole staff? I mean, you know all the staffs going back a long way. What do you make of this one?” BOB WOODWARD: “It's political. They immediately think about what is the political impact.” (CNN's "Larry King Live," 10/3/10)

THEN: Then-Senator Hillary Clinton Said That Obama’s Economic Plan Fails “To Address The Housing Crisis And Fails To Immediately Start Creating Good Paying Jobs In America Again.” CLINTON: “I have solutions to these economic challenges. The question today is does Sen. Obama? Because a plan that fails … to address the housing crisis and fails to immediately start creating good paying jobs in America again, will not turn the economy around and provide the real relief that our people need.” (Ben Smith, “A New Edge To Clinton's Stump,” Politico, 2/13/08)

• NOW: The Washington Post’s Fact Checker Said “Obama Is On Track To Have The Worst Jobs Record Of Any President In The Modern Era.” “Unless the economy turns around in the next 18 months, Obama is on track to have the worst jobs record of any president in the modern era. That would be an accurate statement.” (Glenn Kessler, “Rick Perry’s Claim That Obama Has ‘Killed More Jobs’ Than Any Other President,” The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker”, 8/22/11)
• NOW: “The Alphabet Soup Of Housing Assistance Programs To Date -- HAMP, HARP, EHLP, 2MP -- Have Been Too Poorly Administered And Too Limited In Scope And Eligibility To Slow Or Halt The Slide In The U.S. Housing Market.” “Only 2 percent of President Obama's speech to Congress on Sept. 8 dealt with the plight of underwater homeowners, but those 72 words could do as much or more for the flagging U.S. economy as the entire $447 billion jobs bill. Especially if the White House is willing to think big. That's a big if, given that the alphabet soup of housing assistance programs to date -- HAMP, HARP, EHLP, 2MP -- have been too poorly administered and too limited in scope and eligibility to slow or halt the slide in the U.S. housing market.” (Eric Wieffering, “Fixing Economy Requires More Work On Housing,” Star Tribune, 9/17/11)

THEN: Then-Sen. Clinton: “My Opponent Is In The Promises Business. … We Need Real Results, Not More Rhetoric.” CLINTON: “There is a big difference. … I am in the solutions business, my opponent is in the promises business. … We need real results, not more rhetoric. We need to get back in the solutions business.” (Ben Smith, “A New Edge To Clinton's Stump,” Politico, 2/13/08)

• NOW: “But As A Tool To Make Things Happen — To Move Legislation, To Advance Foreign Policy Agendas, Or To Achieve Compromise On Tough Issues — The Speeches By Mr. Obama Have Struggled To Accomplish Their Tasks.” (Michael Shear, “Can Another Speech Really Help Obama?” The New York Times’ “The Caucus", 8/18/11)

THEN: Then-Sen. Clinton Accused Obama Of Falsely Claiming He Had A Plan To Pay For All The Programs He Proposed. CLINTON: “And with respect to putting forth how one would pay for all of the programs that we’re proposing in this campaign, I will be more than happy, Barack, to get the information, because we have searched for it. You have a lot of money that you want to put into foreign aid, a very worthy program. There is no evidence from your website, from your speeches, as to how you would pay for it.” (Sen. Hillary Clinton, CNN Democrat Presidential Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08)

• NOW: Obama Has Racked Up Three Record Deficits. “The 2011 deficit will amount to 8.5% of the nation's gross domestic product and is the third largest shortfall in 65 years -- surpassed only by those of 2009 and 2010. The nation's economy will continue to struggle, with GDP expected to reach 2.3% this year, a still sluggish rate.” (Lisa Mascaro, “Record Deficits Projected For Third Year,” Los Angeles Times, 8/24/11)

ONE TERM LATER AND OBAMA’S LACK OF EXPERIENCE HAS LED HIS FAILED ADMINISTRATION TO RACK UP RECORDS AMERICA DOESN’T NEED

RECORD DOWNGRADE: Standard & Poor’s “Lowered The U.S. Credit Rating For The First Time, An Ignominious Legacy For Obama.” (George E. Condon Jr., “What A Week: Afghan Deaths, S&P, And Debt Limit Debate Challenge Obama,” National Journal, 8/6/11)

RECORD DEBT: Politifact: Barack Obama Is “The Undisputed Debt King Of The Last Five Presidents.” So by this measurement – potentially a more important one – Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling amount to the debt, as Pelosi’s chart suggested.” (“Nancy Pelosi Post Questionable Chart On Debt Accumulation By Barack Obama, Predecessors,” Politifact, 5/19/11)

RECORD UNEMPLOYMENT: Since Obama’s First $825 Billion Stimulus Passed, The Unemployment Rate Has Remained Above Eight Percent For A Post-WWII Record 32 Straight Months. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 10/19/11)

RECORD POVERTY: In 2010, The Number Of Americans Living In Poverty (46.2 Million) Reached The Highest Level On Record. “The nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 ─ the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate.  There were 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 ─ the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.” (Press Release, “Income, Poverty And Health Insurance Coverage In The United States: 2010,” U.S. Census Bureau, 9/13/11)

Former Primary Opponent Biden Admits Obama Owns It

Vice President Biden Says Obama’s Responsible For The Economy And That Americans Are Right To Be Mad.  BIDEN: “There’s a lot of people in Florida that have good reason to be upset because they’ve lost jobs. Even though 50 some percent of the American people think the economy tanked because of the last administration, that’s not relevant. What’s relevant is we’re in charge. And right now we are the one’s in charge and it’s gotten better but it hasn’t gotten good enough. And in states like Florida, it’s even been more stagnant because of the real estate market. And so I don’t blame them for being mad. We’re in charge.”(WLRN/Miami Herald News, 9/28/11)