What Was Obama’s Press Conference All About? 

WAS IT ABOUT SETTING BACK BIPARTISAN NEGOTIATIONS?

Obama Used “Harsh And Stark Terms” To Condemn Congressional Republicans. “Obama, often in harsh and stark terms, condemned the approach that House and Senate Republicans have adopted in the final stretch of the negotiations surrounding the increase in the nation’s debt limit.” (Chris Cillizza, “Obama The Confrontational,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 6/29/11)

Obama’s “Confrontational Approach” Was Prevalent In Many Of His Answers. “Obama’s confrontational approach toward Congress extended beyond the debt negotiations — seeping into answers he gave on job creation, the broader economy and Libya.” (Chris Cillizza, “Obama The Confrontational,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 6/29/11)

• The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: “Tough To See How This Helps The Negotiations”: “He is going after Republicans HARD. Tough to see how this helps the negotiations…” (Chris Cillizza, “Fix Live Blog Of Obama Press Conference,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 6/29/11)

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd: “The Big Theme of this presser: POTUS v Congress. Tougher rhetoric against Congress on a slew of issues: debt and Libya being at top.” (Chuck Todd, Twitter.com, 6/29/11)

“Following The Press Conference, CBS News’ Bob Schieffer Said The Comments Marked ‘About As Hard As I’ve Ever Heard This President Come Down On The Congress.’” (Brian Montopoli, “Obama Hammers Congress: Do Your Job,” CBS, 6/29/11)

WAS IT FOR DODGING QUESTIONS?

NBC’s Brian Williams: “Chuck, I noted you asked the three-part question that called for some constitutional law judgments he batted away – gay marriage, he said what New York did was a good thing but then said to you and to another question, I’m not going to make news on that front today. He batted away the war powers act question on Libya saying that this was fully exactly what he promised and this was a limited U.S. involvement.” (MSNBC, “Special Report,” 6/29/11)

National Journal’s Marc Ambinder: “That was the most complete non-answer I’ve ever heard from the president on detention policy.” (Marc Ambinder, Twitter Feed, 6/29/11)

Obama “Dodged” Question About NLRB Lawsuit Against Boeing. “During his press conference, President Obama just dodged a question about whether the suit filed by the National Labor Relations Board against Boeing was contributing to a bad regulatory environment that was hurting businesses.” (Phillip Klein, “Obama Dodges Question On NLRB’s Boeing Suit,” Washington Examiner, 6/29/11)

WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A VENTING SESSION?

ABC News’ Political Punch Noted Obama Engaged “In An Animated Rant.” “In an animated rant that livened up an otherwise subdued press conference, President Obama today lit into Congress for failing to reach an agreement to raise the country’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling as an Aug. 2 deadline approaches, despite repeated urgings by the administration to do so.” (“Obama Scolds Congress, Says Malia and Sasha Are More Disciplined,” ABC News’ Political Punch, 6/29/11)

MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie: “I was listening intently to the president news conference and after having covered him for a couple of years I noted frustration in his voice. Do you think the president has had it with Congress?” (MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports,” 6/29/11)

OR WAS IT REALLY JUST ANOTHER FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY?

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: “As Obama speaks, an Obama email fundraising appeal lands in our inbox.” (Chris Cillizza, “Fix Live Blog Of Obama Press Conference,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 6/29/11)