Over the past three months, we've seen Obama and his administration deftly handle the accumulation of crises left behind by George Bush. The president is in control. Watching him at the press conference on Wednesday pivot from issue to issue was fascinating. Obama is who he is. But, that doesn't stop the D.C. press corps from expecting him to screw up. They seem stuck in the old days of George Bush. The last president couldn't handle one issue at a time, which is why the nation is facing so many problems.
Last night, shortly after the Souter retirement was announced, CNN's ace White House reporter Ed Henry expressed his concern about this new issue on the Obama administration's plate:
COOPER: Ed, what do we know about what the process would be for President Obama? Has he publicly said much about this?And, today, Cillizza piles on with the same message:
HENRY: He has not said very much. The bottom line is that they would have to -- you heard the president last night in a news conference say, "Look, I was expecting to handle a few challenges, not a whole mountain of them." All of a sudden he'd have to add this to the two wars, to the financial crisis, to the auto bailouts and the like. This would be a crash course for this White House to get up to speed on who they might want to deal with the confirmation process.
The Souter vacancy lands amid one of the most crowded political environments in modern history with Obama seeking to stimulate the economy out of recession, restructure the American auto industry, draw down American troops in Iraq while ramping up in Afghanistan, reshape how the United States is viewed by the international community and begin preparations for coming congressional debates over health care and the capping of carbon emissions in the fall.Severely tested? Why?
Add a Supreme Court opening to that mix and it''s easy to see why even the Obama administration's vaunted ability to deal with a number of major challenges all at once will be severely tested.
To prove his point, CNN's Henry paraphrased what Obama said at the press conference Wednesday night. Let's review what Obama actually said:
I am surprised compared to where I started, when we first announced for this race, by the number of critical issues that appear to be coming to a head all at the same time. You know, when I first started this race, Iraq was a central issue, but the economy appeared on the surface to still be relatively strong. There were underlying problems that I was seeing with health care for families and our education system and college affordability and so forth, but obviously I didn't anticipate the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.Obama said that with confidence, not worry or concern. He and his team have kept up. Based on polls, it's pretty clear the American people think so. Keep in mind, they kept up when the administration wasn't fully staffed. Obama didn't even get a full cabinet til this week.
And so the typical President I think has two or three big problems; we've got seven or eight big problems. And so we've had to move very quickly, and I'm very proud of my team for the fact that we've been able to keep our commitments to the American people to bring about change while, at the same time, managing a whole host of issues that had come up that weren't necessarily envisioned a year and a half ago.
The traditional media types keep waiting for Obama to be Bush-- but, he isn't and never will be. But, that doesn't stop the talkers from speculating that every new issue will finally be the issue to trip up Obama. No doubt, Obama and his team will make mistakes. But, one new issue on their plate isn't going severely test them.
