White House defends Obama trips to key election states

[ellisonz]

By Peter Nicholas
November 28, 2011, 4:25 p.m.

A president can deliver a speech from anywhere and be assured that it will receive ample attention.

So, why not give it in a swing state that is crucial to his reelection chances? That seems to have been the White House practice over the past year as advisors mapped out President Obama’s itinerary. Again and again, Obama has turned up in important battleground states to sell his policy agenda, demonstrate his concern about the frail economy, or even enjoy some downtime with family and friends.

A Wall Street Journal story documents the pattern, showing that Obama has eclipsed George W. Bush and Bill Clinton when it comes to appearances in presidential swing states: Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia to name a few. On Wednesday, when he flies to Scranton, Pa., to call for renewal of the payroll tax cut, Obama will have notched his 56th visit to a battleground state this year, the Journal reported.

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Carney maintained that Obama is, in some sense, a victim of his electoral success. He did so well in the 2008 presidential race that he turned some traditionally Republican states into true battlegrounds. So when he travels, it’s difficult to avoid hitting the enlarged ring of states that are now deemed battlegrounds.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-white-house-obama-travel-20111128,0,7357387.story

I'd rather have him doing this than spending months in the middle of nowhere Texas. Carney did a poor job sending the ball back onto the press's court. I'm really starting to think he's not the best man for the press secretary job. I miss Gibbs! :(

[AtomicKitten]

1. The GOP is going to have to suck it up because Pres O is entitled to campaign in every state.

I can't believe Carney has to explain this to those knuckleheads.

k&r :hi:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. So now they get to complain about where he campaigns now?

:banghead: :puke:

[AtomicKitten]

8. It's bizarroworld.

"Karl Rove: Barack Obama Preparing Vicious 2012 Election Battle Against GOP Candidate"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/karl-rove-barack-obama-2012-election_n_1118531.html?ref=politics

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. Boy, if that's not the pot calling the kettle..........

Rover wrote the book on "vicious" campaigns (against Democratic candidates). :puke:

[Tx4obama]

2. In 2008 Obama held rallies in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio etc

and we Texans ended up giving him over 3.5 MILLION votes down here :)

Obama won ALL of our largest cities/counties except for one.

Obama did better down here in Texas than he did in many of the other red states.

Btw, Texas is now more purple than red.

Edited to add...

Take a look at Obama's 2008 red state margins on the chart on the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Presidential_Election#State_results

[jaysunb]

3. k & r

:hi:

[ellisonz]

4. Nice signatue image!

:hi:

[WI_DEM]

6. This is news? Haven't all president's running for re-election done this?

[Igel]

12. Yes and no.

Everything an incumbent president does is potentially campaigning. So why not bias your appearances in a way that saves you money and time? So, yes.

But there's a line between saying that everything an incumbent president does is potentially campaigning and saying that everything the president does is intended to take the place of campaigning. At that point you're not biasing your schedule to support campaigning; you're setting your schedule so as to engage in campaigning. So, no.

In the first case, the incumbent saves campaign funds. It's inevitable. In the second case, the presidential travel fund becomes part of the campaign fund.

Personally I've always found it disgusting when a president schedules a trip to some factory opening or school for an hour *after* scheduling a big-ticket fundraiser, setting the time of the presidential activity to make sure that the *real* "country's business"--reelecting the incumbent or a political ally of the president--is served. That that point the presidency is the handmaiden of a party, in the service of private interests.

[jberryhill]

7. Just who does he think he is? Does he think he can just go anywhere in the US?

...and if he ran a "rose garden" campaign, they'd say he was "isolated in Washington".

It doesn't matter with these people.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. Right

just repeat after me: ObamabadObamabadObamabadObamabad..........:puke:

[Wait Wut]

11. Yep. Not a fan of Carney.

I miss Gibbs, as well. He could be feisty and still have a sense of humor.