What did President Obama get for Father's Day?
What did President Obama get for Father鈥檚 Day? Well, we know he received two things at least: dispensation from Michelle to play a round of golf, and a new Father鈥檚 Day campaign video. There鈥檚 no word yet on whether Sasha and Malia got him any new ties.
As to the tour around the links, it occurred at Beverly Country Club in Chicago. The Obamas had traveled home to attend the wedding of a daughter of a family friend.
鈥淥bama played 18 holes 鈥� his usual. His foursome included pals Marty Nesbitt, Eric Whitaker and director of advance Marvin Nicholson,鈥� wrote Chicago Sun-Times political columnist Lynn Sweet .
The round of golf was the 100th of his presidency, according to CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller, the indispensable national chronicler of presidential activities.
鈥淧res Obama has played golf 47 times at Joint Base Andrews, 21 at Ft Belvoir, once at Army-Navy, 17 on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard & 13 in Hawaii,鈥� on Sunday.
As Knoller noted, Mr. Obama has said golf helps him relax and gets him outdoors. He鈥檚 far from the only US chief executive to feel this way, of course 鈥� Bill Clinton golfed. George H.W. Bush perfected 鈥渟peed golf,鈥� leaving reporters in his dust. Dwight D. Eisenhower left cleat marks from his golf shoes in the floor of the Oval Office.
But Knoller got a fair number of negative comments on his report, to the point where he felt compelled to tweet back, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a game of golf. Why are critics so angry and supporters so defensive? Encountered same on GWBush visits to ranch.鈥�
Well, yes, but in the midst of an election campaign, both sides will seize upon any activities of their opponents that they feel symbolize why they should lose. To Republicans, 鈥済olf鈥� means 鈥渙ut of touch,鈥� in this context. Just like 鈥淩omney dressage horse鈥� means 鈥渙ut of touch鈥� to Democrats.
Thus the conservative website RedState to Obama for his 100th golf round. Maybe he is losing so many balls he will have to buy new ones, boosting the golf ball industry, writes contributor Dan Spencer.
鈥淢aybe golf has been Obama鈥檚 secret economic plan all along. Who knew?鈥� Mr. Spencer writes.
Personally, we found the Father鈥檚 Day video more politically revealing than Obama鈥檚 decision to club a small ball with a stick. It鈥檚 slick, more than three minutes long, and organized as a dad鈥檚 day message from first lady Michelle Obama.
In it, Mrs. Obama praises her husband鈥檚 parenting skills. She says that he鈥檚 successful at giving Sasha and Malia the kind of stability and continuity he didn鈥檛 have as a child, because of his absent father.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 missed a parent-teacher conference their entire lives,鈥� Mrs. Obama says.
What we think is interesting here is that the video centers on the first lady鈥檚 words. She鈥檚 posted it on and on her new Pinterest account.
As we鈥檝e noted before, Michelle鈥檚 favorability ratings are much higher than her husband鈥檚. Plus, focus-group results have indicated that female voters in particular respond warmly to Mrs. Obama and her depiction of the White House as a family endeavor. That鈥檚 a key demographic for Obama: He needs to keep his lead over Mitt Romney among women to offset weakness among white working-class males.
Mr. Romney鈥檚 Father鈥檚 Day video, in contrast, was centered on comments from his sons, not wife Ann Romney. They stress their father鈥檚 human, jokester side. It鈥檚 all about Mitt Romney the unstiff.
鈥淗e was a goofball. He loved to horse around,鈥� says son Tagg in the video.
This addresses a Romney electoral need: He needs to humanize himself, and appear more empathetic, to counter Obama鈥檚 advantage in favorability numbers.
Yes, Father鈥檚 Day can be political. Get used to it. We can鈥檛 wait for the dueling July 4th campaign messages.
