Obama Has A  Lot Of Standing Up To Do

Obama Senior Adviser David Axelrod: “If You Can’t Stand Up To The Most Strident Voices In Your Party, How Are You Going To Stand Up To Ahmadinejad? “‘If you can’t stand up to the most strident voices in your party, how are you going to stand up to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad?’ said Axelrod, who left the White House a year ago to take over the campaign’s messaging operation.” (Donovan Slack and Glenn Thrush, “Team Obama Ties Mitt Romney To Rush Limbaugh,” Politico, 3/7/12)

IF YOU CAN’T STAND UP TO THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN YOUR PARTY, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STAND UP TO AHMADINEJAD?

The Decision To Kill Keystone Was “No Brainer Election-Year Politics” To Appease The Party’s Donor Base And Environmental Advocates. “The decision was predictable simply because it was politically beneficial to all parties involved as they gear up for a 2012 campaign likely to be decided by voter enthusiasm and untold corporate millions, operatives on both sides of the issue say. The GOP has an issue that resonates with independents paying $3.50 a gallon for gas and the petroleum industry likely to pump millions into Republican campaigns and super PACs. And for all the pounding he’s taking from Republicans, industry and labor unions, Obama’s decision Wednesday is no-brainer election-year politics. Democrats outside the West Wing and Chicago-based campaign say the politics were clear: With the exceptions of the grousing unions (who will have no choice but to support him in 2012), the party’s donor base, environmental advocates down to their hybrid SUVs oppose the pipeline.” (Glenn Thrush and Darren Samuelsohn, “Keystone Call A Political Win-Win,” Politico, 1/18/12)

IF YOU CAN’T STAND UP TO NANCY PELOSI AND HARRY REID, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STAND UP TO AHMADINEJAD?

Obama Let Democrats Write The Stimulus “And They Did What Comes Naturally.” “Mr. Obama chose to let House Democrats write the bill, and they did what comes naturally: They cleaned out their intellectual cupboards and wrote a bill that is 90% social policy, and 10% economic policy.” (Editorial, “The Stimulus Tragedy,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/09)

When It Came To The Stimulus “Pelosi Didn’t Share The President’s Dream Of Brotherly Love Breaking Out In The Capitol. She Was In Charge, This Was Her Bill And She Would Decide What Was In It.” “Pelosi didn’t share the president’s dream of brotherly love breaking out in the Capitol. She was in charge, this was her bill and she would decide what was in it. To the ire of Republicans, and some Democrats, Pelosi maneuvered to put the stimulus package on an emergency fast track, cutting short debate on the bill and cutting Republicans out of the discussion. ‘I believe the president was absolutely sincere in looking for a bipartisan outcome,’ Dent says. ‘But the White House lost control of the process when the bill was outsourced to Pelosi.’” (Holly Bailey, “Obama’s Pelosi Problem,” Newsweek, 2/27/09)

• A Senior White House Official Said “Dealing With Democrats Has Been Tougher Than Dealing With Republicans.” “Some White House aides have begun to grumble privately that the president has a Pelosi problem. In some ways, says a senior Obama official, ‘dealing with Democrats has been tougher than dealing with Republicans.’” (Holly Bailey, “Obama’s Pelosi Problem,” Newsweek, 2/27/09)

IF YOU CAN’T STAND UP TO JIMMY HOFFA AND BIG LABOR, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STAND UP TO AHMADINEJAD?

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa: Republicans Are “Sons-Of-Bitches.”“Tea partiers are demanding that President Obama apologize after speaking at a Labor Day rally at which Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa called political opponents ‘son-of-a-bitches.’ ‘President Obama, this is your army, we are ready to march,’ Hoffa said. ‘Let’s take these son-of-a-bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.’” (MJ Lee, “Hoffa’s Intro Haunts Obama,” Politico, 9/6/11)

• But White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer Says Obama Wont “Serve As The Speech Police For The Democratic Party.’” “President Obama doesn’t ‘serve as the speech police for the Democratic Party,’ and he won’t weigh in on charged comments made by Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said Wednesday.” (Jennifer Epstein, “Pfeiffer Keeps Dodging On Hoffa,” Politico, 9/7/11)

IF YOU CAN’T STAND UP TO YOUR DNC CHAIR DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STAND UP TO AHMADINEJAD?

Obama Did Not Dispute His DNC Chair’s Claims That There Is A “War On Women.” CNN’S JESSICA YELLIN:  “As you talk about loose talk of war in another arena and women are — this could raise concerns among women, do you agree with the chair of your Democratic National Committee that there is a war on women?” OBAMA:  “Here is what I think.  Women are going to make up their own mind in this election about who is advancing the issues that they care most deeply about.  And one of the things I’ve learned being married to Michelle is I don’t need to tell her what it is that she thinks is important. …” YELLLIN: “Would you prefer this language be changed?” OBAMA:  “Jessica, as you know, if I start being in the business of arbitrating–” YELLIN: “You talk about civility.” (President Barack Obama, White House Press Conference, Washington, D.C., 3/6/12)

• DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) Has Been Saying  Republicans Are Waging A  “War On Women.” “Their third most important priority, by indication of it being HR3, was getting rid of … Planned Parenthood funding [and] redefining rape so that you could not get access to an abortion paid with federal funds unless you were forcibly raped, so statutory rape did not count, date rape didn’t count…. So if you look on balance at their entire record, their record is antiwoman. Their record is a war on women, and it is a priority for them.” (Dave Cook, “To DNC’s Wasserman Shultz, Republicans’ Record Is ‘Antiwoman,’” Christian Science Monitor, 6/8/11)

IF YOU CAN’T STANDUP TO BILL MAHER, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STAND UP TO AHMADINEJAD?

Comedian Bill Maher Donated $1 Million To Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA. “Comedian Bill Maher announced tonight that he will donate one million dollars to President Obama’s re-election campaign.  At the end of his groundbreaking comedy special, ‘CrazyStupidPolitics: Live from Silicon Valley,’ which streamed live on Yahoo!, Bill brought out a check, making a personal donation of one million dollars to Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA Action.” (Alexander Burns, “Bill Maher, Super PAC Man,” The Hill, 2/24/12)

Former Obama Economic Adviser Austan Goolsbee: “Palin is right to point out that bill maher has said some pretty disgusting things about women, comedian or not. they are rush like.”(Austan Goolsbee, Twitter Feed, 3/7/12)

“Yes, It’s True. Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Matt Taibbi, And Ed Schultz Have Been Waging It For Years With Their Misogynist Outbursts.”(Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t The Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/12)