US News
ANALYSIS: As first setbacks hit, Obama calls in the networks
By Andy Goldberg Feb 4, 2009, 1:49 GMT
Los Angeles/Washington - Facing the first serious setbacks of his new administration, US president Barack Obama launched an unprecedented media blitz Tuesday to push his stalled stimulus plan and deflect criticism over failed appointments.
Obama sought to leverage his personal popularity with one-on-one afternoon interviews with television networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as cable news channels CNN and Fox News.
The move came as opposition Republicans in Congress continue to skewer the nearly 900-billion-dollar stimulus legislation being pushed through Congress by Obama's fellow Democrats, the centre-left majority.
At the same time, Obama suffered an embarrassing distraction when his candidate for health czar, former senator Tom Daschle, withdrew his nomination over growing criticism of his failure to pay more than 100,000 dollars in taxes and questions about how he used his influence to help clients and investment funds.
The withdrawal of Daschle, who is widely described as a mentor to Obama and one of the earliest supporters of his presidential run, came on the same day that Nancy Killefer, Obama's choice for a new post of chief performance officer to help streamline the federal budget, also withdrew from consideration over her own failure to pay unemployment taxes.
Previously, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson dropped out of consideration as commerce secretary last month over an investigation into allegations of politicized state government contracting practices. And Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama's point man on the continuing credit and economic crisis, was forced to make a grovelling apology over his failure to pay self-employment taxes for several years, before the US Senate confirmed him to the cabinet.
In Tuesday's interviews - which the White House granted with the requirement that they not be aired until the networks' influential evening newscasts - Obama was candid about Daschle's shortcomings and forthright in calling for stimulus support.
'I screwed up,' Obama told NBC's Brian Williams. 'Today was an embarrassment for us,' added Obama, who said he was 'angry,' 'disappointed' and 'frustrated with myself' over the Daschle episode.
In his CNN interview, Obama drew on his own populist campaign rhetoric to try to rebuild political momentum after his nominees' personal tax snafus.
'Ultimately, I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics,' he said. 'And I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards - one for powerful people and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes.'
Bloggers seemed to welcome the straight talk.
'Obama and the Democrats are losing the Washington-based word war about the economic stimulus package,' wrote blogger Andrew Malcolm on the Los Angeles Times website.
'Watch the cable channels. Read the newspapers. The editorial pages if you can. If it's not about the latest would-be cabinet member to discover inadvertent income tax errors in his favor, it's about how the Democrats ... larded up the economic stimulus legislation with every conceivable favorite.
'So tonight through the network interviews, which will be replayed Wednesday morning, Obama will seek to re-set the focus on economic stimulus. Get the talk back on home turf. Stop playing D (as in defence).'
Blogger Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune was betting that the media gambit would pay off.
'At a time like this, when most Americans have confidence in the new president ... Obama has a receptive audience for his message: swift action, with a massive spending boost, will help rev up the economy,' he wrote.
'The question, for Obama, will become not only how well he sells his plan today, but how deeply the opposition's message already has sunk in.'
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Older Talkback
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to hear SP talking about reality setting in. Th idiot hasn't known reality since one of his daddies bounced him off a wall for smoking crack.
Poor Obama. The guy hasn't even been in office for two weeks and is already becoming something of an embarassment. He can't get his agenda started. His appointees are failing to impress and mired in scandal. And his much-hyped about stimulus bill is already looking dead on arrival.
But let's be honest here. Is all of this really Obama's fault? Well, yes it is.
It is Obama who made these bad choices for nominees, and errors in judgment. It is Obama who ignored and thus allowed his stimulus plan to become so mired in pork so as to become nearly useless as an actual stimulus tool: since when is a proposal to give the wealthy $70 billion via AMT conducive to putting America back to work? Or $50 million doled out to Hollywood execs through an 'arts endowment'.. is this supposed to help the unemployed steel worker in some way? Is this what we can expect from an Obama administration?
I like Obama, but I now have reservations.. serious reservations about his ability to get anything done in the next 4 years since he can't even seem to get anything done his first week in office, except pick out a school for his kids. Maybe he should head to Crawford and chop some brush.
Well it wouldn't be the first time Americans elected a doofus into office.
Please continue.
Though you may have your mob of 'anti-sp4' zealots, foaming at the mouth brandishing their torches and pitchforks, the majority of us do enjoy your enlightened commentary every now and then.
Speak for yourself and only yourself - you must be hard up for entertainment!!
'Please continue.
Though you may have your mob of 'anti-sp4' zealots, foaming at the mouth brandishing their torches and pitchforks, the majority of us do enjoy your enlightened commentary every now and then.'
SP4 you must be one lonely sick old man, to make comments on your own behalf. Makes it even funnier how pathetic your life is.
...none of that makes me wrong, either.
My parents used to talk about the millions congress wasted
My genration talks about the billions congress wasted
This new generation will talk about the trillions wasted
By my calculus, this means the problem is a million times worse.
It's time to go do the math, kids, and please do it soon.
A'million times worse' thanks to the Bush administration!!!!
Jake, thanks to the last 8 years of 'trickle down', that did not trickle down.
'Elitist, corrupt, duplicitous, hypocritical'. Your description of the MSM ounds like a description of the Republican Party as well. And, reading your assertion of generations of government waste makes me wonder how you can be such a fervent neo-con apologist, and supporter of the Bush admin. The neo-cons are absolutely not conservatives, and the Bush admin was certainly not in the least fiscally conservative. Seems like you would be well suited to be an advocate of another form of democracy other than a two-party system, or even better as an anarchist who advocated abolishing the government. I await your words of wisdom concerning my suggestions.
'This new generation will talk about the trillions wasted'
Yeah, the trillions wasted by the Bush administration.
Exactly. And that don't make me wrong.
'Elitist, corrupt, duplicitous, hypocritical'. Your description of the MSM ounds like a description of the Republican Party as well.
Perhaps but we're dealing with the dems now, so try and concentrate, will ya?
And, reading your assertion of generations of government waste makes me wonder how you can be such a fervent neo-con apologist, and supporter of the Bush admin.
SP4_ I'm not, I'm a real conservative. Neocons are disgruntled libs, that was the problem with Bush, like I must have said a thousand times. Where were you???
The neo-cons are absolutely not conservatives,
SP4 - ya think? Well, you're smarter than Tonny from Stalingrad, I'll give you that...
and the Bush admin was certainly not in the least fiscally conservative.
SP4 - curious, wasn't it the dems who were preaching Paygo two years ago? Where'd that go? Out the window with a trillion dollar, unfunded, pork bill, the likes of which Bush NEVER did? Be sure to get back to us on that, would you?
Seems like you would be well suited to be an advocate of another form of democracy other than a two-party system,
SP4 - try again
or even better as an anarchist who advocated abolishing the government.
SP4 - by what calculus do you arrive at that conclusion???
I await your words of wisdom concerning my suggestions.
SP4- your suggestions are crap, I'm afraid, emotionally arrived at, poorly conceived and wrong.. Read the above and inform yourself.
There is no such thing as a real SP4. He's just a figment of a bad drug trip, by some tweaker. He is totally unreal.
Thank you stupid Americans for voting in this fraudulent car salesman. Obamania has to take a backseat to the reality of his lack of qualification.
So success and wealth is supposed to trickle down? Blame Bush for your lack of success...
Stop expecting everyone else to carry your weight. Grow some balls, get an education, and earn your keep you liberal slackers!
'Grow some balls'
Already got two. They're made of brass and they clank when I walk. What have you got, GOP Poster Boy, a couple of shrivelled up grapes?
...he's the only person Barak knows who has paid his taxes.
'..they're alrady here...'
A lot of the slackers are actually poor white folk living in the southern base territory of the Republican party. Ever since they lost the Civil War, and all the black slaves were set free by the northern states, those poor white southern trash have got an attitude that they are entitled to live on welfare just because they are wasp Americans. They only just a bunch of losers who pretend/believe that they are 'conservative', as they condemn the better educated, hard working 'liberals' who defeated these southern hill billies once before, and could certainly defeat them again if necessary. These dumb southern crackers are really just inbreed, free-loading misfits who don't know how to work, and who place no value on education. It's no wonder why these pseudo conservatives lost last time.
'So success and wealth is supposed to trickle down? Blame Bush for your lack of success...'
I love the fact that this board has some of the stupidest Neo-con trash that make comments. Are you so stupid not to know that trickle down was that waste of a human being Ronald Reagan's failed policies.
'Stop expecting everyone else to carry your weight. Grow some balls, get an education, and earn your keep you liberal slackers!'
I carry my own, and am educated enough to understand what really happened you redneck, tobacco chewing, sister dating, idiot!
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SP4:Reality Setting InFeb 4th, 2009 - 02:46:17
Here is Obama, who campaigned on the promise of 'Change you can believe in' and then promptly appointed a Treasury Sec who cheated on his taxes and now sits over the IRS, An AG who facilitated the pardon of Terrorists and is now the highest law enforcement official in the land, an HHS secretary who was the #1 lobbyist for the medical industry, and cheated on his taxes, while taking zillions for lobbying, and how many more who epitomize the premise that while they are supposed to represent the people, the same rules do not apply to them as the people they serve.
This is the libnazi elite in full bloom: Elitist, corrupt, duplicitous, hypocritical.
Now we have Obama, who set a bar so high and cannot manage to hit any of his targets of transparency, and honesty in government any better than any of the last Presidents. This is the fact, flying in the face of the image.
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