Obama just might have played this rescheduling thing perfectly

Especially if he knew the date of the Republican "debate" well in advance

So far, the Republican debates have produced nothing of substance, only reasons NOT to vote Republican next year. A bunch of right wingers trying to show each other which one can outdo the other in hating Obama, "libbruls," poor and sick people.

Obama is much better off letting the ignorant and uninformed Republicans rant and fume before a full audience, and then himself show up on TV the next night and be, by comparison, the very image of rationality. He even has a day to modify his speech to take into account the ridiculous things that his Republican opponents will spew out during their propaganda session disguised as a debate. All the while, he can say he was accommodating Bonehead in the name of bi-partisanship, as all he did was accede to a direct request from Bonehead.

If Bonehead really had the best interests of the Republican Party at heart, he'd shoot for ANY distraction from the Republican "debate," so that as little attention would be focused on their candidates' inadequacy as possible. Now, the whole world will be watching, and except for Fox viewers, their status as not-fit-for-prime-time will be out there in its undiluted splendor for the whole world to see.

I wonder how the Republican participants in the "debate" feel, now knowing they will be nothing more than a warm-up act for Obama, much like the clowns in a circus tent? I'll bet that thinking Republicans are more pissed-off about the re-scheduling than Democrats, and if they aren't, then it's because thinking Republicans are an extinct species.

Congress decides that. The President can make a request, but he can't make Congress convene. In fact, Congress could have made Obama wait until the mandated State of the Union address.

To Obama's fault though, he should have negotiated in private instead of making the date request public. He opened himself up to embarrassment and that's amateurish. ..and requesting the original date at the same time as the GOP debate is politically transparent.

And now he has a day to update his speech to include direct quotes from the GOTP, and direct smackdowns no doubt.

He likes to throw a few zingers in for fun.

made no objections. It wasn't until after Obama went public did he raise objections. Of course after he made objections, he had to grant Obama's request for the next day or he'd look really petty.

" may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;..."

The respective members don't necessarily have to attend, but that's another issue. I suppose the other question would be what constitutes an "extraordinary Occasion"....

The only one I can think of off the top of my head was at the beginning of WWII.

I don't know why so many people's hair is on fire over this triviality. Here and on the news. Blitzer was licking his nonjournalistic chops at this Big Event.

I had not seen it that way...

Excellent thoughts!

Recommended.

and bluster.. and by now he has probably got the M/O of the regressive party memorized..nice set up

very good post

:kick: and rec'd

And one must assume it was not a last-minute decision, then this whole thing
might have been thought out in advance by the White House. Bonehead was indeed
set up. I'm just amazed that someone with such predictable tactics couldn't have
been out-maneuvered many times prior to this.

*on edit: 3 unrecs already. The House Republican leadership must be paying more
attention to DU than any of us thought! LOL!

:hi:

:-)

He can't think. Doesn't know know how to do much but say "no" and take bribes. a self important fool.

Too late now. 3 unrec........... interesting.

was it made no sense. Why would Obama want to do this on that night? I'm thinking, he wouldn't of course, so why did he?

And, then what happens? He takes it to America the next night just before everyone's tuning in for a big football game!

The Republicans can't complain he didn't go to the Speaker of the House to address Congress. They can't complain he took the next available night to speak to the nation.

But, they'll complain plenty about how many households will be listening.

:rofl:

If so, touche Mr. President... and well done

speech is at 7:30 eastern. Game at 8:30 eastern.

.. gonna be hell for the talking heads tho.

That Pres Obama's speech will be at 7PM (not 7:30 as I had originally heard)

:fistbump:

"A bunch of right wingers trying to show each other which one can outdo the other in hating Obama" -- is working.

Why do you think Rush Limpballs has the largest listening audience on radio? Because he is a master at attacking his opponents. It doesn't matter if his attacks are based on facts. As long as the attacks just keep coming, the DAILY ATTACKS are what his audience is listening for. And his listeners EVEN KNOW that the attacks are not factual, and they don't care. They believe in winning at all cost, facts just get in the way.

Before Ronald Reagan became President, the Democrats outnumbered the Republicans for Registered Voters by an almost 2-1 margin. Now the country is at 50/50.

Folks... Fox News and Rush-style attack propaganda is working, and sadly the talking points for the last thirty years and now not even questioned on mainstream news.

Job Creators! Every day that phrase is mentioned, and no one even questions it!

The bottom line is Obama is going to lose the next election, and the reason is the Right will have it's base all fired up (just like the last mid term election) because of the non-stop Obama attacks. Meanwhile Obama is off playing chess while his base is burning. If 5% of the Dem base does not vote, Obama loses. The current Obama strategy is to appear to be the "sane one", the centrist, the reasonable one. This is a WEAK defensive strategy. Americans LIKE politicians that attack! (see newcomer Chris Christie from NJ, a Democratic State! -- because he is an attacker). Obama's "defensive" strategy will be the end of the Democratic Party.

After Obama loses (just like the mid terms, and for the same exact reasons!), and maybe even loses big... I see the Democratic Party splintering into two groups. A pro Labor Progressive Party and the rest will be Reagan Democrats.

Obama is a Reagan Democrat, and so is Ben Bernanke and Arne Duncan. They will do ANYTHING to get re-elected, including pandering to Wall Street, corporations, banks, you know... the job creators.

It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. After the Repugs retake the White House, watch unemployment soar to 20% (real unemployment will actually be 30-40% -- but you never hear that on TV!) And the Repugs will love it! The upper 1% will control it all.

It's going to happen in the enxt decade, and we are all just sitting here watching it happen.

The Obama hate from the right where I live is so thick you could cut it with a knife..

I think Obama loses as many on the left as he gains in the center when he continually moves to the right, he doesn't lose those on the left to the Republicans, he loses them to apathy because he ignores their concerns and constantly disses them.

There is a big chunk of the country that will never vote for a Democrat under any circumstances whatsoever, trying to get them to vote D is a task that would make Sisyphus weep with frustration.

Pumping up those who are most likely to vote Dem and making sure they are motivated to go to the polls is the key to an Obama election victory, a key he clearly has no intention of using.

Exactly my thoughts.

its because we dont just go to the polls
we suck every possible person into the voting vortex as we can
i have never voted alone since 74
when i go to the polls its always a twofer and usually at least a threefer

Why do you think Rush Limpballs has the largest listening audience on radio? Because he is a master at attacking his opponents. It doesn't matter if his attacks are based on facts. As long as the attacks just keep coming, the DAILY ATTACKS are what his audience is listening for. And his listeners EVEN KNOW that the attacks are not factual, and they don't care. They believe in winning at all cost, facts just get in the way.

Limbaugh has his audience mostly because Clear Channel has a complete lock on AM radio. The alternatives simply aren't there. I will grant you that the dittoheads are completely brainwashed by him and that they get off on the daily attacks. Also, throw in Fox News which does the same thing with a bigger audience, and web ads everywhere for Newsmax, and you get a continual message everywhere that only Republicans are fit to live.

In other words, IMO it doesn't matter what Obama says. It doesn't matter what date he picked, or what his strategy was, or anything at all. Nothing he does will make any difference, because the continual noise machine from the right will convince everyone not paying attention that he is wrong. The fact that he is thought to be a sekrit Muslin Commonist is proof of this - how many times has it been debunked by now, to no effect? It doesn't matter that it's absurd, because it RIGHT, Fox News says so. We have no consistent message on the left at all, we have no organized media organ on the left at all, and the result is that the right can make any message it wants and the brainwashed people will swallow it, regardless of how unrealistic it is. Fox News could right now tell people that they are literally falling off skyscrapers while they are listening and they will scream in fear because the talking box told them they were, and they will never once look at the ground and figure out that they are being lied to. So president Obama, President, Sanders, President Kucinich, President Superman, President whoever - if they aren't part of the rightwing they are going to automatically fail according to a full third of the country.

I grew up in the 1980s; my memories of what happened in and, more importantly, to the news media and talk radio during that period agree completely with each of his statements.

is the same people who didn't understand why, at the end of Bush's term, he still had a 30% approval rating seem to think that the SAME people are going to say, "That Obama sure is taking the high road, I respect him for that." REALLY? LOL! Face it, America is at least 50% filled with voters who have the same mentality as a bunch of junior high kids. They pick sides, and they pick the side that seems 'tougher' and 'stronger'. I'm thinking about my own dad, who is a conservative voter here in Canada, who said about Jack Layton - the NDP leader who recently died (think if Bernie Sanders had a 3rd party, and they make history by winning a majority of seats in the house and Bernie became speaker and then died 3 months later, that's how it was with Jack Layton) anyhow, my dad said, "I didn't agree with most of what he said, but he NEVER COMPROMISED his values. He stood up for what he believed in and didn't give an inch. I respect him as a man." THAT IS HOW THE RIGHT WILL RESPECT OBAMA! And if you think otherwise, you just plain don't 'get' conservatives. At all. And it's no wonder the democrats lost in 2010 and probably will in 2012.

... but I disagree that unemployment will soar if the Republicans retake the white house and even the Senate. They will want to keep power, and they learn from past mistakes. The best way to keep themselves on top will be to improve - at least marginally - the economy under Republican rule. If you buy into the theory that the powers that be (...uh..."job creators", I guess) are holding back to help unseat Obama - and I do - then they will work hard to at least give the illusion that things get better with a red white house. It will be low paying, crappy jobs - but still jobs, and improved monthly numbers, and an up-ticking DOW, and low taxes, and cuts to entitlement programs. And the chorus of bubble headed bleach blonds on the tee vee will sing hymns for them, and they will be able to say "Look, we were right" for 3 or 4 elections cycles, or more. I'm buying KY Jelly stock.

And try to make the economy be better than it is now; then why did they not do better than Bill Clinton when G.W. Bush took over? Instead they ramrodded their crony capitalism and corruption and no-bid contracts, war rackets to shovel tons of money out of the treasury to their pals and for safe keeping for themselves as well - IMO. I doubt the rethugs will care about making the economy better since, by your account, they already have a lock on the media so the media will regurgitate whatever bile the rethugs wants to feed the public and since the public believes them - no problem there - progressives/liberals will be drowned out regardless of whatever protests they put up.

RL

Too many people keep telling me just how wrong headed I am when I think things like you do. But I just can't get it "learned" or I'm too stubborn to try.

But, GOOD POST!

we're going down in flames

if its a set up its a double cross and america is going to see one of the most polite and factual, non threatening debates ever presented
every gop candidate will come across as the guy down the street and they will all hit different talking points
sensible even tempered talking points
the gop is the universal king of kabuki theater and this is going to be the most tightly orchestrated event ever

To assume it does, means our leaders are totally clueless. I'm not willing to make that underestimation.

American politics are like a World Series baseball game. Everyone is on their toes, and are always aware of where the play is.

I can spout off hundreds of examples where politicians have "just said the wrong thing in public"... and it cost them their political careers.

Stop with the bullshit 3-D chess excuse, that everything Obama does is somehow outwitting his opponents.

Don't be surprised if someone yells out "liar" again! Obama is on the defensive and is losing the public. Take a look at the polls for the last 3 months, Obama is tanking on Job Approval.

I never seen a President in my lifetime so AFRAID of using the Bully Pulpit.

You and the Republicans may absolutely despise the man, but I think he's a great president doing the best anyone can in tough times. Don't ever understimate him.

Even if he is playing 3-D chess, what good will that do when everyone else is playing and sending him invites for "Call of Duty?"

Some are incredulous that the White House could make such a scheduling snafu.

They didn't.

K/R

it would be doing what you planned to do regardless of the howling of the right. That's something I have yet to see from this President.

This is not some Jedi mind trick. He wanted to go on the 7th, but had to reschedule.

Stop reading more in to this, that's what got us in to this trouble to begin with. He's just a guy.

I associate those words with this administrations handling of 'the date'. The only word I associate with this OP is "delusional".

Fold, fold, fold...and then fold some more.

...but had to laugh at the fold analogy anyway ;)

...Congress does. In actuality, Boehner could have refused any date and made Obama wait until the mandated State of the Union address. It's Congresses decision, not Obama's.

To Obama's fault, he should have made the date request and negotiations privately.

well played Obama, well played. :eyes:

But only jocks watch football, right? We don't care about those "lowbrows"!

Obama caved, period.

All I want is a strong speech about jobs from the president. I want fresh, new and mostly BOLD. If rescheduling helps get that message pounded home with the American people, fine, reschedule and do the speech. I'm good with that.

But please, Mr. President, no recycling old stuff, no "we need to invest in green technology" (I will probably scream if I hear that sentence again after hearing it again and again and again over the past 3 years...).

and frankly have stopped hoping for a "grand speech" of any sort from Obama.

It's campaign season and this grand speech is aimed at pissed off progressives.

What I want to see is what happens AFTER the speech. Will he hold tough to the things he says in the speech? or will he just move on to the next thing and leave us in the dust?

The speech will come and go, but in the end, honestly, what will change? We shall see.

It gets to be like a scene out of "Waiting for Godot." Or maybe it's just Charlie Brown and the football that Lucy whisks away, every time.

at least with Charlie Brown there actually is a football.

be sit down shut up and eat your peas to progressives?
if that is what it turns into i will turn it off

but like you, if it does turn out to be yet another "peas" type speech, then I'm done with him.

He will then have shown he's completely detached and ineffectual as a president regarding anything being fixed.

But like I said, we shall see.

Obama knows the demographic that he must win.

I don't think "the adult in the room" plays as well (or is even noticed) as some seem to think, the polling has never translated to any appreciable votes and plausibly losses more than are gained.

This tactic is overstated in its effectiveness because it mostly impresses those already in the fold or strong leaners.

I would think there is a point in a person's life that after having to make excuse after excuse and justification after justification that person would finally have to give up.

I guess that's not true.

He is going up against the season opener of the NFL. The fact you would tell yourself that this is a smart move is pitiful.

the ivory tower mentality of believing that only dumb jocks, repukes and people not interested in politics only watch football.

Obama caved, yet again.

The only saving grace he could pull out of this would be to have the speech before the kickoff.

He would have a built in audience and not have to run up against the debate on MSNBC. he would get all the stations to televise him.

Just right before he tosses the best ideas in the trash, sitting down to negotiate.

I see the snark but not the meaning.

That is the only sense I can make of it.

People lie to themselves to allay anxiety. It gets them through the day.

Afraid that Obama's actually a RWer and has no intention of helping America get out of this mess? Lie to yourself and say it's really a brilliant chess move. Feels good now, right?

All those who complain about Obama? Well, they're just a bunch of HATERS who want to make you feel bad, and goddamn it, that ain't gonna happen.

HATERS!

And that blood you saw this morning? That was nothing, nothing at all. La di da, la di da. I can't hear you...

Just how does the NFL dictate the schedule of your life/lives?

another instance of Obama playing 16-dimensional chess with the Rethugs? Get real. Obama (or his people) blew it and got clobbered with the "he caved" meme all over the media today. There's really no way to put a happy face on this.

He has chosen to be above the partisan debate and will not be dragged into a fight over even the most trivial matter.
Unfortunately he is coming across as weak in the face of bullies.

The ineptness of the White House in even scheduling the speech properly is an embarrassment. Equally inept, in my view, is the fact that the White House announced weeks earlier that there will be this great speech a month later, as in:

IMPORTANT WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCEMENT: THERE WILL BE AN IMPORTANT LONG-AWAITED ECONOMIC SPEECH IN A MONTHS TIME OUTLINING OUR ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS TO EVERYTHING SO IN THE MEANTIME TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES AND SPECULATE ABOUT OUTLANDISH AND/OR INADEQUATE MEASURES YOU THINK MIGHT BE IN THE SPEECH AND HOW BAD IT WILL BE. THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG, SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER.

By my observation, the Obama White House manages to deliver the most incompetent and bizarre communications strategies of any recent White House. It's like they all skipped out of Political Communications 101. Either that or the President is running his own communications shop, and doing so quite badly.

I hope this particular fiasco convinces him to straighten out this problem. There is only so long that even his most avid supporters can pretend that his junior PR clerk level screw-ups are really 27-level chess matches that he wins every time, and we're all just to stupid to see that.

Boner's office is run by a bunch of 7 year olds trying to play politics but as inept as that office is, Obama's people make that group look smart.

It doesn't really matter if Bama gives one of his awe inspiring speeches anyway because he has proven to me that the only thing he will make a stand for is Wall Street, his family, and getting reelected.

For me, I'll be watching football.

when does not follow through on what he promises and did not force the congress back or curtail his vacation when there are long lines at the unemployment office and food lines. Does anyone on this forum think that FDR, Reagan, LBJ or Clinton would have folded like this? They would have told Boner and Congress to take a hike and taken it right to the people. I'm sorry but this Hispanic will not vote for him again despite of the new immigration rules. We need someone to challenge him.

and you do make a solid case for the attention that has been placed on the "debate". I just keep coming back to the fact that the President is pitted up against the NFL opener, and being a recent political follower junkie convert - I know that the large majority of Americans will have no idea that he is even giving a speech, given the circumstances.

take the computer on jeopardy?

great post.

This is the first day back for Congress from their exended vacation that no-one in the media talks about. So then, why was the Republican Debate even scheduled for that night?? In LA for that matter?? They couldn't have scheduled it this week?? So the 3 Congress-people who are in this debate are going to miss the 1st day back from their over-extended vacation and no-one is even pointing a finger at them??

Boner is an idiot. This only makes him look bad - not that the orange doesn't make him look worse now.

If you understood 87th level Jedi, 4th dimensional, rope-a-dope chess you would get it. Just accept as a fact that this is another "win" for Obama.

I think we're well past denial now.

The WH debacle for me is a constant dissonance between "They're really, really incompetent" and "They're complicit enablers in finishing off America The Beacon To The World". This move makes me think it's the former.

Yesterday: This is a BRILLIANT tactical move to schedule The Speech so that it conflicts with the Republicans.
An "In You Face WIN" for the President.


Today: This is a BRILLIANT tactical move to reschedule The Speech so that it does NOT conflict with the Republicans.
A "WIN" for the president.


Whiplash!
Too sad to be funny.





You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That would have helped more than this desperate-looking campaign stunt.

in this thread care to take a shot at it? I'm not buying the 37 level chess any longer. I want *real* solutions to very real problems. That's what I voted for, and am still waiting on.

:thumbsup:

This "mixup" may have been a setup by the Obama Administration from the start. Think about it, a Congress coming back from an extended vacation decides to put their little debate ahead of the jobs issue. The short-term effect is to make Obama look impotent. That's what the media is playing right now. However, this could easily swing around quickly as it is rolled into a general "The Republicans Don't Couldn't Care Less About Jobs For Americans" message.

That's what I'll be watching for.

It sets a tone for what will likely be a rather confrontational address from Obama the theme of which is likely to be something along the lines of "It's time to get up off your asses Republicans!"

I could be wrong but this is the tone that Obama NEEDS to start taking unless he is willing to risk a close race for his second term.


Subject: Frustrated

Todd --

Today I asked for a joint session of Congress where I will lay out a clear plan to get Americans back to work. Next week, I will deliver the details of the plan and call on lawmakers to pass it.

Whether they will do the job they were elected to do is ultimately up to them.

But both you and I can pressure them to do the right thing. We can send the message that the American people are playing by the rules and meeting their responsibilities -- and it's time for our leaders in Congress to meet theirs.

And we must hold them accountable if they don't.

So I'm asking you to stand with me in calling on Congress to step up and take action on jobs:

http://my.barackobama.com/Time-To-Act

No matter how things go in the weeks and months ahead, this will be an important challenge for our organization.

It's been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on.

I know that you're frustrated by that. I am, too.

That's why I'm putting forward a set of bipartisan proposals to help grow the economy and create jobs -- that means strengthening our small businesses, giving needed breaks to middle-class families, while taking responsible steps to bring down our deficit.

I'm asking lawmakers to look past short-term politics and take action on that plan. But we've got to do this together.

I will deliver this message to Congress next week, but I'm asking you to stand alongside me today:

http://my.barackobama.com/Time-To-Act

More to come,

Barack

If you look at what's been going on ....................

the way the GOp and the media is trying to frame Obama. He's just a good pol who knows how to maneuver his way around, just like the GOP has been doing since Reagan. He's not playing this so called 3D chess. he knows well how to get his opponents to trip over themselves in public.

two moderate republican's left Congress nearly a decade ago.

If he does as he has in the past, it is nothing more than another flop for the Republican circus.

If he were to give a plan on national TV, in front of a recalcitrant Congress, and still there was no hint of a compromise, then he would be justified in attacking them as a do-nothing, head in the sand Party. He could go on a full scale political blitzkrieg against their bullshit. He doesn't need any more evidence of their unwillingness to compromise or work together on anything. He should go for the political kill. He is not going to get any legislative victories through this Congress. If he does that, then he might have "played it perfectly".

If the storyline is the same, he loses even more ground and makes his re-election even more unpredictable.

...it probably only looks like a brilliant tactical move, and it's more likely the Administration simply stumbled into it.

NGU.

Unfortunately, I don't. My world has a troubling aspect called reality.

He just pointed out that the repugs could have just rescheduled their debate for an hour later, and used it to bash the President. They were too dumb to figure that out. Now, as you pointed out, he has an extra day to respond to them.

The Party of No just screwed themselves royal, all for the sake of another no.

All anyone will remember about this whole sideshow, including the speech and Repuke response, is that Obama was beaten again by the Repukes, and was forced to give a speech just before the start of the NFL season, and nobody will care what the hell he has to say when real NFL football is only minutes away.

That's the best you've got? Wow. Go back to junior high, where they love that kind of childish bullshit. You'll be much more at home there. BTW, I really don't give a flying fuck about NFL football, and neither do millions more like me. NFL football isn't going to give me or the 14 million other unemployed people out there a job.

Who knows, at the rate he's going, maybe Obama will be joining you for the 2013 season?

We are both charter members of the Thomas Jefferson fan club!

I swear some people have nothing better to do than to twist and contort and deny rather than just face the facts that electing him was a mistake & he either doesn't know or doesn't give a shit what he's doing.

"nothing better to do than to twist and contort and deny rather than just face the facts"...check the mirror now and then, okay?


-

And it shows that the GOTP are more concerned with keeping tax cuts going than getting jobs moving. We know their priorities well.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

I agree with every single bit of it. The President will have the advantage here, no question.

The boner-heads are idiots. God we have got to GOTV in 2012 and put some sanity back in Washington!!!

Shine on,
Annette

Obama is fattening the rich for the kill.

For one thing, most people won't watch the GOP debate that occurs this early in the election season. Those that do are already diehard conservatives or liberals, so their opinions won't change.

For another, Obama did make himself look weak again, demoralizating his liberal and union base again.

For another, as Bill Clinton once said people would rather have somebody who is strong and wrong than someone who's weak and right. Which sadly is true. A guy who lets himself be bossed around by people lower than himself doesn't come across as appealing IMO. But I could be wrong. Obama is far more sane than the GOP. But does the fact that he can't/won't fight for anything negate most of that benefit?

:eyes:

ready for him to show that he can be brave, take a stand, and lead?

Leading from the back is following.

Playing at politics is not leading.

Watching millions of lives being destroyed is not a game.

Trying to make the other guy look foolish is what passes for manly in the 15 year old set.

Caving is not decision making.

Reneging on your promises is not loyalty.

Passing the buck to the Carrion Eaters Committee is a total betrayal of the majority of American citizens and the act of a coward.

Selling out the people who put you in the WH is just that, selling out the people who put you in the WH.

The question then becomes if Obama is not honoring those who put him into his position of power then exactly who is he honoring?

why do you come on the board and slam Obama for something the GOP has been doing for years? Ignoring history to make a point makes you look stupid, or maybe you don't want anyone to look at what happens on a daily basis in Washington, especially on the GOP side.

to believe that but eventually you are going to have a rude awakening. There will be no way you can continue to delude yourself after that.

Now, let us hope that President Obama has something to say besides sympathetic-sounding platitudes about unemployment. Americans need a massive, government-funded jobs program, similar to President Roosevelt's Works Program Administration which provided millions of jobs to restore our infra-structure and even put artists, writers and musicians to work, not to forget thousands of teachers and construction workers.

Anything less will not be enough to really help the unemployed Americans who are suffering so terribly as a result of the banksters crimes.

IMO, he looked totally weaksauce and Boner is leading him around by the dick.

actually thought this way. Given the way he has handled everything of late, other than OBL's demise, I can't say for certain that Obama would be able to take advantage of letting the GOTPers go first. He just might let their rhetoric be taken "off the table".

the absolute worst politician and weakest president in my life time.

Sadly, given the strategies from this administration in other matters, I think it's likely happenstance instead of design. This White House seems EVER so anxious to bend over backwards for Boner & Co..

playing enth dimensional chess. Boner is smart enough to play chess, and is instead playing checkers. Luckily for him, Obama thinks they are playing tic toe and keeps trying to line up three in a row just to watch Boner jump his pieces and collect them.

therefore i might as well watch just excerpts from it. (on edit) Also today Thom Hartmann expressed concerns how the speech might conflict with the Packers/Saints game (the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010, the Packers 2011), but it turned out not to be.

Amongst all the squabbling, whining, sniveling Republicans.
Maybe Boehner should go on teevee and cry again in front of his own wife!!!

Seriously, that was the most despicable ridiculous act I have ever, EVER seen by a man, if you can call him that.

Maybe they could cross swords with the Republican masters of spin. With spin it doesn't matter if it is true or not, just as long as enough people come to believe it is true.

don't make knee jerk reactions. tired of the pessimism from the left. is really annoying. What ? did you think Obama was the magical cure? no he worked so well that all he has left to go with is the radical right. Right now 2012 is turning into 1996 and Bob Dole if Rick stays in the yawn game. Like okay Obama vs a Bush Jr clone. So I guess we loved those 8 years of fear, growing deficit and job losses. SOunds great.

"You've extended the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy, what you falsely call the 'job creators'. So, I ask them 'where are the jobs?'

"You reduced the size of the major stimulus bill in 2009. So, where are the jobs?

"You made $300 billion of that stimulus bill tax cuts. So, where are the jobs?

"In fact, it's been 9 months since you took office. So, where are the jobs BILLS?"

Obama needs to kick these people's asses. Their authoritarian... they're either at your throat or at your feet.

and politics is a chess game. The GOP has been bashing Obama left and right, but are now getting flak for not creating jobs and obstructing job creation programs. We can see that at the town hall meetings reports. So we know that a lot of normally quiet people are sick and tired of the GOP putting ideology and party before America and its working class. We also knwo that GOP has gotten so far out there, so blindly reactionary, that, if Obama said the sun rises in the East, they'd get on Fox and say "no", and Ruch would try to blame Obama for causing the sun to rise in the East.

So let's take those two things, and weigh them against a bit of timing - Obama knew when the "debate" was going to happen. Of course, he knew the Game was coming up, so he took a gamble on GOP reaction, and scheduled his speech at the time of the debate. He's smart enough to do that. As post 64 says, all the "thinking" GOP would have to do is to move it over an hour, and have speechwriters ready, to weave Obama's speech's points into the debate, and maybe score more anti Obama points. But the GOP totally fell for it by just saying stupidly, "no" (as usual) and refusing to offer an alternative that would be to their strategic advantage. So now, the GOP lost ammo for their debate, and you can bet during the debate they will play to the teabaggers, and dance around the jobs creation (which they ran on) and taxes for the rich issues, and try to convince America that tax cuts and government services cuts will fix everything. They will be dogmatic, they will lie a lot, they will be shrill, they will prove they are empty suits with no plans, they will be idealistic, but they will have exactly zero facts and a bad track record to go on, and my bet is that they will the thing will they always do- make them selves look very juvenile and unfit to lead. And Obama has not much more to do, than to appear right before one of the biggest Blue collar events in America- a national foot ball game, and simply say "see what they just did? And what they just said and didn't say? Did they not, one more time, prove they have no plan to create jobs in America? Now why should anyone believe the GOP about anything? Did they propose anything that will get you more money in your pocket, get you some debt relief, help you keep your house, search for work? No, they did not. Here is my plan: ____________. Now America, watch as the party of "No" tries to stop me from creating jobs in America and trying to put this country back on its feet."

The 3D chess meme is silly. All Obama is doing is what any skilled pol who knows how to maneuver, would do.

nt

WTF is happening?!

All the conservanazi candidates will make a complete ass of themselves trying to suck up to the teabaggin' kkkluckers. I'm sure they'll have both feet in their mouths before the night is through and the next night, Obama will look like the only intelligenct politician in the whole bunch.

Yep, DFW, I believe you've got Obama figured just right. At least, I hope so. I don't want him looking like he caved. I'm sure Rachel Maddow, O'Donnell or Olbermann will play it in a positive way.

How did that work out in 2010 ??

Love it when we're told we must "clap louder" to getting socked with 98% warmed-over GOP Policy just because some guy that slapped a "D" after his name one day tells us it's the best he can do.

In this Chess Game, REAL Democrats are the ones who are getting played. And the "playas" are the fake "Democrats" like DLC/Third Way/"New Democrats."

he looked like a wimp, nothing more.

He's opposite the festivities for the opening day of the NFL
The number of watchers will be very low.
They'll be coming home from work, eating dinner, heading out to the bar or other meeting place, etc

I don't think of this 'warm-up act for Obama' debating as 'clowns in a circus tent'. It's more like a visit to the Reptile House - and I don't speak Parslemouth. Got to admit, we have fun watching the Republican participants squirm.



.

A ridiculous political move on the WH part.

Now, howabout some real investigations and truth telling about 9/11.
Hard to believe ten years later, we still don't have it.

I was never a Obama fan, but have lost all faith that
he is even a Democrat, although I have little faith in
that party as well. The only hope Obama has is that
we still all think for ourselves and know that it's still
the SC, stupid.