Japan. Libya. The deficit. Did Obama have time to go on ESPN?
| Washington
Obama-bashing is nothing new for Republicans. But this week, the president handed his political opponents an especially juicy target: a live appearance Wednesday on ESPN to announce his 鈥渂racket鈥� choices for the NCAA basketball tournament.
It was President Obama鈥檚 only public appearance of the day, having canceled an event to receive an award for government transparency. In the evening, Mr. Obama spoke at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser, which was open only to the press pool. On Friday, he leaves for four days in Latin America.
All the while, the nuclear crisis in Japan deepens and the uprising against Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi appears close to defeat while the UN debates what to do. Obama鈥檚 plate of domestic issues is just as full, with budget negotiations continuing amid the threat of a government shutdown.
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鈥淭he job can wait: Obama has better things to do,鈥� blared the headline on a release Thursday morning from the National Republican Congressional Committee. 鈥淧resident chooses to do nothing to solve deficit problem or world crises as reelection and foreign travel beckon.鈥�
Obama鈥檚 schedule for Thursday was hardly better, in the eyes of Republicans. He took part in several St. Patrick鈥檚 Day events, including a meeting with the Irish prime minister in the Oval Office. And while he did make an unannounced visit to the Japanese Embassy to sign the condolence book and was scheduled to make a statement on Japan later in the afternoon, he stuck with his plan to travel south on Friday.
Every day this week, White House spokesman Jay Carney has faced questions from reporters about Obama鈥檚 insistence that he stay on plan and go to South and Central America, where the US has important economic relationships. He reminds the press that, as president, Obama travels with a large staff and has a sophisticated communications setup.
But the fact is, the president postponed foreign trips twice last year 鈥� both to Indonesia and Australia. The first delay came as the battle for his health-care reform legislation was coming to a head in Congress, and the second time, he delayed over the BP oil spill.
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In his briefing Wednesday, Carney made the distinction between foreign and domestic matters. 鈥淚t is a crisis in Japan; it is not a crisis in the United States,鈥� Carney said. 鈥淲e are very concerned about our allies and friends, the Japanese. We are doing everything we can to help and assist them. We are very concerned about the safety and security of American citizens in Japan, and we are doing everything we can to ensure their safety. But it is 鈥� we have no plans to change the trip.鈥�
White House staffs try to stick to the schedule as much as possible. But 鈥測ou can get handcuffed to it,鈥� said Tony Fratto, a former spokesman in the George W. Bush White House, on MSNBC Thursday. He noted all the 鈥渁ssets鈥� that go into preparing for travel 鈥� whether it鈥檚 across the Potomac or halfway around the world 鈥� and all the effort that is wasted by a canceled trip. And, Mr. Fratto adds, the White House doesn鈥檛 want to be always in 鈥渃risis mode.鈥�
For Obama, this week鈥檚 persistence in sticking to his script has revived the larger questions about his 鈥渘o drama鈥� style of leadership. During his 2008 campaign, he was applauded for keeping calm and steady, not getting too low when things went wrong or too excited when things were going well. As president, that has turned into a perception of passivity that leaves some observers 鈥� even sympathetic ones 鈥� scratching their heads.
Ruth Marcus, a liberal columnist for The Washington Post, has dubbed this the 鈥淲here鈥檚 Waldo? presidency鈥� 鈥� a characterization that has caught on in public discourse.
鈥淭here are a startling number of occasions in which the president has been missing in action 鈥� unwilling, reluctant, or late to weigh in on the issue of the moment,鈥� Ms. Marcus wrote March 2, citing health-care reform, entitlement reform, the Wisconsin union showdown, and Libya.
Some of the obsessing with every moment of Obama鈥檚 schedule may be a function of the perpetual news cycle, where the media 鈥� particularly cable TV 鈥� have gobs of time and space to fill, and make mountains out of mole hills. Health-care reform did, after all, pass.
On entitlement reform, Obama appears to be engaged in a calculated game of chicken with the Republicans, intentionally withholding specific proposals that could damage his reelection prospects. His reluctance to get overly involved in the Libyan conflict is logical, given the complicated image of the US in the Middle East 鈥� and its ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Wisconsin, he seemed determined to leave that battle up to the labor movement and not make it a Washington issue.
After fielding criticism for weighing in too freely on issues of the day in his first two years as president, Obama is being applauded by Democrats for his more disciplined approach.
鈥淚n the State of the Union, he promised a focus on education and technology, and he has stuck with the program,鈥� says Peter Fenn, a Democratic communications strategist.
鈥淚f this was a guy who wasn鈥檛 paying attention and didn鈥檛 have his facts straight and was kind of clueless in the job, then OK,鈥� says Mr. Fenn. 鈥淲ho thinks that this is someone who isn鈥檛 plugged in 24/7? He clearly is.鈥�
Maybe appearing on ESPN in a light-hearted moment of 鈥淏arack-etology鈥� was overly frivolous, given the images coming out of Japan. But as the one-term President Carter learned, allowing yourself to appear humorless and consumed by crisis doesn鈥檛 do anyone any good. It all boils down to finding that sweet spot of public engagement with major events 鈥� not too hot, not too cold.
So maybe it鈥檚 OK that the Obama White House followed its St. Patrick鈥檚 Day tradition of dying the water in the big outdoor fountain green. And, in keeping with the media鈥檚 tendency to over-analyze everything the White House does, it has even been
