Obama's cops 鈥榓cted stupidly' comment steps on healthcare
| Washington
Usually, when a careful politician is asked about a situation in which he does not know all the facts, he plays it safe with a simple 鈥渘o comment.鈥�
President Obama took a different path Wednesday night. When asked about the case of black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., who was arrested last week for disorderly conduct after being accused of breaking into what turned out to be his own home, Mr. Obama allowed that he didn鈥檛 have 鈥渁ll the facts鈥� 鈥� then declared that the Cambridge police had 鈥渁cted stupidly.鈥�
It was the last question of a prime-time news conference, in which the first 55 minutes were dominated by the theme of the day, health reform. The televised event was to be a high point in a carefully orchestrated week, in which Obama was pushing hard on healthcare.
Then the Gates incident came up. Obama became animated and actually answered the reporter鈥檚 question. He made news.
Washington pundits are divided on whether Obama made a mistake in actually saying what he thought 鈥� and muddying his healthcare message. Or whether ultimately it was a good thing that he waded bravely into one of America鈥檚 thorniest topics, race relations. Or maybe some of each. Usually, Obama avoids discussing race as he strives to play down the color of his own skin.
鈥淗e topped his own story, and that wasn鈥檛 very smart politics,鈥� says Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution. 鈥淏ut when he answered that question, he reminded us that he鈥檚 our first African American president and that鈥檚 important. He feels these things.鈥�
If nothing else, Obama鈥檚 comment has deflected attention from healthcare, his signature policy initiative.
Talk radio, cable TV, and the blogosphere have lit up over Obama vs. Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, and it has probably not done much for Obama鈥檚 standing among law enforcement.
In a gaggle with reporters on board Air Force One Thursday, press secretary Robert Gibbs fielded 13 questions about Obama鈥檚 remarks on Gates and racial profiling before a reporter asked about healthcare. Important negotiations on health reform had been proceeding all day on Capitol Hill.
But now a new story line is in full bloom: Where does Obama go now with the Gates brouhaha and with the question of racial profiling in general, an issue he spearheaded as a member of the Illinois legislature?
In an interview that will air Thursday night on ABC鈥檚 鈥�Nightline,鈥� Obama defended his criticism of the Cambridge police.
鈥淚 have to say that I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don鈥檛 need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who鈥檚 in his own home,鈥� Obama said.
Sergeant Crowley has refused to apologize for the incident. 鈥淚 know what I did was right,鈥� he told WEEI radio in Boston. Crowley has said that he didn鈥檛 know who Gates was and asked him to step outside his house when the situation became heated. The arrest charges against Gates were dropped.
Cambridge Police Commissioner Richard Haas defended Crowley at a news conference Thursday, saying he did not believe the officer behaved 鈥渨ith any racial motivation at all.鈥� He also announced that a panel of experts would study the incident for any lessons.
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