On a day when the world’s markets are falling because of a bad August jobs report, Politico has this headline: “White House furious over speech delay.” Most people are more furious (and frightened) by the news imparted in this headline: “U.S. adds no new jobs in August; Unemployment remains 9.1.”
As for the president’s long awaited speech on jobs, I think the emphasis on the speech rather than the jobs shows all you need to know about savvy of the current White House. It was foolish for them ask, at the last possible minute, for a joint session of Congress on the same night as a long-scheduled GOP debate (named after Ronald Reagan, no less).
Now the “furious” White House appears to want to make an issue over Speaker John Boehner’s insisting the joint session be the next night. Before the latest bad economic news, and when it appeared that President Obama might actually upstage the GOP debate, the columnist Jonathan Capehart was cheering on “one bad ass move by the president: “
While the folks onstage at the Reagan Library try to look presidential in the eyes of viewers and voters, Obama’s address in the House chamber communicates clearly, “I AM the president of the United States.”
Well, since you ARE the president, do something to get us on the right economic track, Mr. Obama. The problem is that the Obama policies have made a bad situation worse and yet the president isn’t going to change-it was us, not himself, he hoped to change.
The White House seems resigned to high unemployment: this report says that the administration estimates it will be 8.2 next year when the president is running for re-election. So what do you think a real estimate might be?
This is why politics are going to be nasty until the election. With nothing to run on in the way of a record, the president is going to have to resort to tricks such as trying to upstage the Republican debate.
The Speech President Obama will deliver next week will be not so much about job creation as about trying to save one job in particular.