Obama On The Defensive In Regional Interviews
FYI, Barack Obama went into his regional interviews yesterday hoping to talk about the Buffett Tax but instead found himself on the defensive forced to address Hilary Rosen’s comments and the perception that he is out of touch for vacationing and campaigning on the taxpayer dime. Check out a rundown of the coverage below:
USA Today: “Obama Defends Vacations: We’re Working Hard”
President Obama found himself defending family vacations during one of his local television interviews yesterday. “The fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I’m raising a family here,” Obama told KMOV-TV of St. Louis. “When we travel, we’ve got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that’s not my choice,” the president added. “I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people.” Republicans tweeted out what looked a tense exchange between interviewer Larry Conners and Obama.
Politico: “Obama Grilled By Local Media On Vacations, Rosen Comments”
The White House strategy to bypass national news outlets in favor of local interviewers may not be panning out as well as they had hoped. Traditionally, local news outlets tend to ask easier questions on topics the White House wants instead of the scandals of the day in Washington. But in local TV interviews on Thursday, President Barack Obama was pressed for a response on controversial comments by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and grilled for how often he takes vacations.
Yahoo News: “Obama Says Air Force One Travel Is ‘Not My Choice’ In Sharp Exchange”
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-says-air-force-one-travel-not-choice-234726856.html
President Barack Obama on Thursday firmly rejected any criticism that his worldwide travel on Air Force One or his family’s vacations have left him out of touch with Americans’ struggles, saying flying aboard the famed official plane is “not my choice.” “The fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I’m raising a family here. When we travel, we got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that’s not my choice. I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people,” Obama told KMOV of St Louis. The interview was one of four sessions the White House arranged with local TV in states expected to be battlegrounds in November. KMOV reporter Larry Conners had told Obama that some of the station’s viewers “are complaining, they get frustrated, even angered, when they see the first family jetting around, different vacations and so forth, sometimes maybe, they think, under color of state business and that you’re out of touch, that you don’t really know what they’re experiencing right now.”
Weekly Standard: “Obama Hammered For ‘Jetting Around,’ Taking Vacations While Americans Suffer”
President Obama, during an interview with St. Louis’s KMOV, was hammered for “jetting around, [taking] different vacations and so forth, sometimes … under the color of state business.” The interviewer, Larry Conners, suggested even that folks “get frustrated, even angered” seeing the president take these trips, and told Obama that these Americans think he’s “out of touch, that [Obama doesn't] really know what they’re experiencing right now.”
WFB: “Obama Grilled For ‘Jetting Around’ On Vacations In Poor Economy”
http://freebeacon.com/obama-grilled-for-jetting-around-on-vacations-in-poor-economy/
NRO: “Obama: ‘I Think Most Folks Understand How Hard I Work.’”
WaPo: “The President Had Scheduled A Series Of Interviews With Local Television Outlets In Swing States To Push The Proposal, But He Also Had To Address Rosen’s Comments”
The contretemps knocked the White House off-message on a day that it had hoped to devote to the economy, and specifically to pushing the idea of raising taxes on millionaires. The president had scheduled a series of interviews with local television outlets in swing states to push the proposal, but he also had to address Rosen’s comments. “There’s no tougher job than being a mom. When I think about what Michelle had to do, when I think about my own mom, a single mom who raised me and my sister — that’s work,” Obama told the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Anyone who would argue otherwise probably needs to rethink their statement. More broadly, I don’t have a lot of patience for commentary about spouses of political candidates.”
