Michelle Obama is taking her fitness campaign to the books, the Guinness Book of World Records that is.
Yahoo reported the First Lady, with the help of National Geographic Kids magazine and more than 300,000 jumping jack-ers, made history after breaking the world record for most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period on Sunday.
According to the Washington Post, Michelle and her helpers shattered the previous record, which was a miniscule 20,000 people.
“Today, I am proud to announce we broke that old record — and not by just a little bit,” she announced on Monday. “With your help, we had 300,265 people jumping that day.”
This is the fifth Guinness record National Geographic Kids has helped break. Its other records include Longest Line of Footprints and Largest Gathering of Plush Toys.
In order to achieve her goal, Mrs. Obama led about 400 elementary and middle-school students from Washington in jumping jacks on the South Lawn of the White House. Other jumping jacks events were held around the world on Oct. 11.
The effort was organized by National Geographic Kids magazine in support of the first lady's Let's Move! initiative to promote physical fitness and healthy eating for children.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Over the weekend, the president, First Lady, and their children hung out with Justin Bieber. It was one of those rare photo ops not including animals or infants sure to earn resounding awws from its many postings around the Internet. The First Family was attending the annual “Christmas in Washington” concert, wearing their Sunday-evening best. For Barack Obama, this doesn’t differ from his Monday, Tuesday, or any-other-day-of-the-week best, but for the other three ladies in his family, whose wardrobes noticeably vary day-to-day, the clothes were hard to overlook. And so there was much rejoicing by some members of the media, who seem to have either realized or decided that Michelle Obama is no longer the only First Family member destined to achieve style-icon status. Her daughters are, at least to this group of presidential-children watchers, well on their way.
President Barack Obama, wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson attended the concert to benefit the Children’s National Medical Center.
The concert of Christmas carols and songs, which took place at the National Building Museum, was hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.
In honor of the “season to celebrate miracles,” Obama spoke about the story of Jesus Christ’s birth in his brief remarks. He said Jesus’ story has changed the world by teaching basic values such as loving one another, helping and serving the less fortunate, forgiving, drawing closer to family, being grateful and keeping faith.
“Those are values that are shared by all faiths,” Obama said. “So tonight let us all rededicate ourselves to each other, and in that spirit, from my family to yours: Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America.”
As Christmas rapidly approaches and the festive season reaches its full swing, the US first family were visited by Christmas elves at the 'Christmas in Washington' celebration at the National Building Museum in Washington. While Michelle seems delighted by the visitors, President Obama is a little less sure... Let us know your ideas for a picture caption the the comment section below.
US President Barack Obama , First lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha join in for a final song at the conclusion of the performances at the annual 'Christmas in Washington' gala, in Washington, DC, USA, 11 December 2011.
US President Barack Obama , First lady Michelle Obama , their daughters Malia and Sasha (6-R, partial hidden) are joined by entertainers The Band Perry, Conan O'Brien, Jennifer Hudson, Victoria Justice and Justin Bieber for a final song at the conclusion of the performances at the annual 'Christmas in Washington' gala, in Washington, DC, USA, 11 December 2011.
If the Obama White House had only a few Christmas decorations, we would never hear the end of it from the nutcases who think the First Family hates God and America all that is good and decent in this world.
But right-wing pundit Andrew Malcolm, who spends most of his waking hours thinking of things he doesn’t like about the president, is out with a unique complaint. He says the White House is decked out with too much Christmas stuff.
One can sense the sneer with which Malcolm writes that Michelle Obama “said the massive holiday displays in her White House are designed to make others feel better, especially military families.
Coleen Christian Burke, author of Christmas with the First Ladies, will join us for alook at the holiday magic that happens at the White House.
Christmas with the First Ladiescaptures the Christmas decorating history and techniques from Jackie Kennedy through Michelle Obama. Each first lady’s design aesthetic is profiled, such as Lady Bird Johnson’s themes of home and family to help heal the nation after John F. Kennedy’s death; Nancy Reagan’s interest in renewing a child-like sense of wonder; and Laura Bush’s “Red, White, and Blue “ Christmas for a nation banding together.
The book also features anecdotes and intimate photos of the presidential families during the holiday season, as well as personal crafts and recipes used by the first ladies.
Form Obama appearance for the holiday party at the White House next week, pianist David Osborne got a request list from Michelle Obama.
The First Lady wants to hear some Christmas music like “The Christmas Song” and “Sleigh Ride,” Osborne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
But she also wants Adele’s 2011 hit “Someone Like You,” and Stevie Wonder’s classic ballads “Overjoyed” and “Ribbon in the Sky.” Showing her tastes are varied, Obama also listed the much-loved Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.C.”
So abundant are the decorations for visitors to the Obama White House to view that the first family needed more than 100 volunteers to fly in from all over the country to help set up the numerous displays, including photos and letters from military families and even some aluminum cans.
The theme the first lady chose for the decorations was "Share, Give, Shine."
Of course, every administration decorates the White House in some way for holidays, from green fountain water in mid-March to evergreen wreaths come December.
During the 2010 Gulf oil spill when Obama was urging Americans to patronize the coastal area's devastated tourism facilities, Mrs. Obama flew off to a luxury resort in Spain with a large entourage. The family later briefly visited the Gulf coast where the president was photographed swimming with a daughter.
As the Nobel Peace Prize winner launched American planes and missiles against Libya in last spring's war, he took his family, mother-in-law and her friend to tour South America. In the summer Obama said the issue of creating new jobs had become so urgent that he would give another speech about it -- a month later after his island vacation on Martha's Vineyard.
In September he then told Congress his jobs bill was so urgent, that members needed to pass it right then. Turns out, that was impossible because his urgent legislation had yet to be written.
The extravagance of 2011's decorations, however, are striking given the widespread joblessness, pale economic growth, home foreclosures and grim outlook for 2012, not to mention the incumbent president's historically low approval rating heading into his reelection bid.
How simple, politically astute, symbolically helpful and cost-effective it would have been for the Obamas this year to say that in sympathy with so many struggling countrymen, they were curtailing holiday decorations to match the sacrifices of others.
Mrs. Obama took another tack, however. She said the massive holiday displays in her White House are designed to make others feel better, especially military families.
"I know for some of you, this holiday season will be tough," she told some visitors. "But hopefully, it's times like this that make you know that you live in a grateful nation, and that we are just so inspired by your sacrifice. And hopefully, this is a memory that will stay with you every holiday season."
Justin Bieber says US President Barack Obama is "one cool Prez".
The singer performed his festive hit Mistletoe at the 30th annual Christmas in Washington concert on Sunday.
This was the second time Justin has appeared at the event, which is held in front of the entire presidential family including President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia.
The first time was in 2009, when President Obama famously mispronounced the star's name.
However, the 17-year-old had a wonderful time this year and took to his Twitter account to share his excitement.
"Great night!" he wrote. "President Obama is one cool Prez. He told me he was 'chillin,' (sic)."
Conan O'Brien was on hand to host the event at the National Building Museum.
Justin was joined by acts including Cee Lo Green, Jennifer Hudson, The Band Perry and Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice who took turns singing holiday classics and some new hits.
Cee Lo opened the show with his own renditions of This Christmas and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
Obama, who attended a church service with his family on Sunday morning - which he does only rarely - joked and played with young patients from a Washington-area hospital before the show but was serious in his remarks to the crowd.
"This is the season to celebrate miracles," he said after the closing medley.
"Every year we celebrate his birth because the story of Jesus Christ changed the world. For me and for millions of Americans, the story has filled our hearts and inspired our lives," he said, adding that Christian values of giving, gratefulness, service and compassion were "values that are shared by all faiths."
"So tonight let us all rededicate ourselves to each other, and in that spirit, from my family to yours: Happy holidays, merry Christmas, God bless you all," the president said.
Obama, who could face a tough reelection fight in 2012, does not speak often about his religious beliefs.
"This is the season to celebrate the story of how, more than two thousand years ago, a child was born to two faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among cattle and sheep," Obama said near the close of the concert.
"He was no ordinary child," Obama said. "He was the manifestation of God's love. And every year we celebrate His birth because the story of Jesus Christ changed the world."
Added the Barack Obama:
For me, and for millions of Americans, His story has filled our hearts and inspired our lives. It moves us to love one another; to help and serve those less fortunate; to forgive; to draw close to our families; to be grateful for all that has been given to us; to keep faith; and to hold on to an enduring hope in humanity.
Service to others. Compassion to all. Treating others as we wish ourselves to be treated. Those values aren't just at the center of Christianity; those are values that are shared by all faiths.
So tonight let us all rededicate ourselves to each other. And, in that spirit, from my family to yours, happy holidays. Merry Christmas. God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family attended a worship service Sunday morning at an Episcopal church just across the street from the White House where presidents frequently have visited.
The president, first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia made the short walk across Lafayette Square to St. John’s Church.
The sermon by Rev. Dr. Luis Leon was based on the story of John the Baptist, who told the religious leaders he was neither the Messiah nor the prophet, but a voice calling in the wilderness.
Leon likened the story to the president and the expectations Americans may have of him. People have illusions about the nation and about God, the pastor said, and urged the congregation to open its eyes not “to the God we have created, but to who he really is,” he said.
Just before the announcements, the congregation laughed when a young boy ran to the front of the church and took a good look at the Obamas.
The first family participated in Holy Communion before strolling back through the park to the executive mansion.
Obama has worshipped at St. John’s previously, including Easter services in 2009. He has also attended other churches in the nation’s capital.
The way I see it, we're just extending the holiday spirit. We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your kids don't start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight. That will cause some problems..."
Although the holiday starts on December 20, Michelle and Jill already had their festive fashions ready. SLOTUS (that's Mrs. Biden) wore a billowy black number that echoed Michelle's Christmas decorating outfit a few weeks ago: solid black dress and detailed white collar with a hint of sparkle.
Michelle, on the other hand, went full-on festive. Her sleeveless cobalt dress glowed like the menorah lit on the dais (with candles for all eight nights already, but who was really noticing) and around her collar hung layered strands of blue Erickson Beamon pearls.
The men also decided to go blue for the Jewish holiday, each wearing an azure tie. (Alas Bo was absent, as his black-and-white appearance would have truly ruined the theme.)
For a bunch that doesn't actually celebrate Hanukkah, the First and Second families sure know how to get in the holiday spirit! With all the blue (which somewhere along the line became associated with Jews, although we're not sure when or why), we do wonder: are they all trying a little too hard to dress the part or is the united color scheme a nice touch.
Weather Underground Forecast for Monday, December 12, 2011. The round of dry conditions through the country will come to an end Monday as a strong storm will slam into Southern California. The storm will renew areas of heavy rain along with high elevation snow not only in California but also through the Southwest over the next couple of days as the storm moves into the area. Winter Storm Watches are in effect for the hills of Southern California as snow levels will tumble to near 4,000 feet with the cold air from the storm.
This storm will represent the heaviest precipitation in the country. A high pressure system over the eastern third of the country will provide dry conditions for much of the East. The one exception to this will be in Georgia and South Carolina as morning rain will give way to drier conditions.
This storm will represent the heaviest precipitation in the country. A high pressure system over the eastern third of the country will provide dry conditions for much of the East. The one exception to this will be in Georgia and South Carolina as morning rain will give way to drier conditions.
Another potential wet spot will be in the Northwest as a storm will provide mainly light rain and high elevation snow from Washington through Idaho.
Generally cool weather is expected in the norther half of the country, but the storm along the West Coast will pull cold air into California as well.
The Northeast will rise into the 30s and 40s, while the Southeast will see temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The Northern Plains will rise into the 20s and 30s, while the Northweset will see temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday have ranged from a morning low of -13 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont. to a high of 81 degrees at Pompano Beach, Fla.
WASHINGTON — ‘Tis the season for dancing sugarplums, goodwill toward all — and sometimes emergency-room trips for holiday decorating injuries.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that injuries involving falls from ladders while stringing lights, cuts from broken glass ornaments and other decorating activities are on the rise.
The government estimates that more than 13,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for such injuries during November and December of last year. That’s up from 10,000 in 2007 and 12,000 in 2008 and 2009.
The agency also reminded people that those twinkling Christmas trees can erupt into flames in a matter of seconds if they come in contact with an open flame.
Christmas tree fires were blamed for about four deaths each year and $18 million in property damage between 2006 and 2008, according to the commission.
“A well-watered tree, carefully placed candles, and carefully checked holiday light sets will help prevent the joy of the holidays from turning into a trip to the emergency room or the loss of your home,” said Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.
One of the biggest causes of holiday injuries are fires. The use of Christmas trees and candles during this year can create a hazardous situation. Between 2006 and 2008, there was an annual average 4 deaths and $18 million in property damage related to Christmas tree fires. Candle fires added about 130 deaths and $360 million in damage over those same three years.
"This is easily the busiest time of year, but it's important to make time for safety while celebrating the holidays," John Drengenberg, director of consumer safety at Underwriters Laboratories (UL), said in the press release. "By committing a few minutes each day to safety, many accidents can be avoided and your holidays will be memorable for all the right reasons."
The CPSC said there's simple ways to avoid catastrophes during this time of year. Making sure that your live tree is fresh and set up away from heat sources to help prevent fires. Also, any artificial trees you buy should be labeled fire-resistant. Be extra cautious when decorating a tree with a child; ornaments can easily fall on them.
As for those twinkling lights, make sure you buy ones that have been tested for safety at a nationally recognized testing laboratory like UL. Check to see that you are using designated outdoor lights in an appropriate setting.
Also, as much as it might seem convenient, don't burn wrapping paper in the fireplace. It is much more flammable than you would expect and ignites and burns intensely.
Meeting Justin Bieber is quickly becoming de rigueur for the First Tweens. Malia and Sasha Obama again welcomed Justin Bieber to the annual "Christmas in Washington" show this weekend at the National Building Museum. The Biebs was the big tween draw last night, but other tween favorite performers included Victoria Justice, Jennifer Hudson, Cee Lo Green, Conan O'Brien, and The Band Perry.
The First Tweens were dressed in colorful holiday attire for the show: Malia Obama wore a bright yellow silk dress by the fashion house "Elizabeth and James" (which parents may recall as being the clothing line developed by former tween stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) with black tights and flats accessorized by a long chain necklace, and Sasha Obama wore a ballet-inspired lilac tulle dress with plum-colored tights and metallic flats.
Sasha looked perfectly adorable in a lavender frock, while Malia radiated in a yellow satin Mabel dress by Elizabeth and James complete with bell sleeves and a gold necklace.
Yellow has been popping up everywhere this season, so it was no surprise to see that Malia was dressed in the bold hue. The 13-year-old has been spotted in several fashion forward outfits lately and is quickly becoming one of our favorite style gals to watch.
And before getting dolled up for the concert, Malia attended Sunday Mass with her family in a pink coat with white detailing that was pulled together with matching plum colored tights and gloves (a true veteran fashionista move).
Here's a look at Malia's uber-stylish ensembles yesterday and all the stars who have stepped out in yellow this season.
Justin Bieber braved a cold in order to perform for President Obama and his family at the 30th annual ‘Christmas in Washington’ special on Sunday, Dec. 11. The special, which benefits the Children’s National Medical Center, will air this Friday, Dec. 16 on TNT.
The Biebs tweeted about his condition upon waking up Sunday morning, writing: “Waking up with a bad cold … weather change. but will be ready tonight for CHRISTMAS in WASHINGTON. #resting.” The Biebs felt well enough to perform by set time, so it was indeed a Christmas miracle.
According to MTV, Jennifer Hudson, the Band Perry, Victoria Justice and Cee Lo Green also performed for the leader of the free world. The Biebs performed for this particular show two years ago, and upon his return, he served up his new holiday hit ‘Mistletoe.’ He looked quite dapper in his white jacket with black piping and black tie.
Waking up with a bad cold ... weather change. but will be ready tonight for CHRISTMAS in WASHINGTON. #resting," he tweeted in the hours leading up to the show, later adding, "Feeling good. Just had some fun at rehearsals and now we r ready. Time to sing for the President. #canadianrepresenter. Seeing the fans ... being here again 2 years later. Feeling very #blessed and #grateful. Thank U! Great night! President Obama is one cool Prez. He told me he was 'chillin.' #PresidentialSWAG."
During the event, a number of Christmas classics like "This Christmas," "Silent Night," "Let It Snow" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" were performed. The night ended with all of the performers, as well as the Obamas and host Conan O'Brien, taking the stage for "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
While the night was all about the holidays, O'Brien did manage to poke a little fun at Bieber during the show. "It's especially exciting to be here during this joyous season, when we celebrate the arrival of a miracle child, worshiped by millions around the world," he said. "Of course I'm talking about Justin Bieber.
NEW YORK - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said today he feared Iran was expanding its influence in the Persian Gulf region at the same time that the United States is withdrawing forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and said he has not seen the Obama administration do anything to stop Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
He also expressed concern that negotiations to retain some U.S. troops in Iraq as security for Americans working there were abandoned.
When asked about reports that Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been consolidating power by rounding up Baathist Party members and that some Western companies have been kicked out of the Green Zone, Cheney replied, "I don't know the details now the way I used to when I was in the loop with the intelligence reports and so forth. I think the Iraqis have got to organize themselves however they want to organize themselves.
"They're a sovereign state and that's partly what the struggle is all about. But I think they've made major progress. They've written a Constitution, they've had a lot of elections. They've got a democracy established. It's not perfect by any means, there's a lot of work to be done. But they're clearly much better off than when Saddam Hussein was in charge.
On Tuesday, a semi-official Iranian news agency said authorities have shrugged off the U.S. request. Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said the United States should apologize for invading Iranian air space instead of asking for the return of the unmanned aircraft.
Obama wouldn’t comment on what the Iranians might learn from studying the downed aircraft. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said it’s difficult to know “just frankly how much they’re going to be able to get from having obtained those parts.”
Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday called the downing of the drone “a significant intelligence loss.”
“For us to go in and take out the drone that crashed, I think, would have been a fairly simple operation,” he said on CBS’s “The Early Show.” But Cheney said the administration “basically limited itself to saying please give it back.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Panetta said they’re not optimistic about getting the drone back because of recent Iranian behavior that Clinton said indicated “that the path that Iran seems to be going down is a dangerous one for themselves and the region.”
“We submitted a formal request for the return of our lost equipment as we would in any situation to any government around the world,” Clinton told reporters at a State Department news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
“Given Iran’s behavior to date we do not expect them to comply but we are dealing with all of these provocations and concerning actions taken by Iran in close concert with our closest allies and partners,” she said.
Panetta said the request to return the drone was appropriate. “I don’t expect that that will happen,” he said. “But I think it’s important to make that request.”
Neither Obama nor Clinton would provide details of the drone request, but diplomatic exchanges between Washington to Tehran are often handled by Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. The State Department said Monday that the Swiss ambassador to Iran met with Iranian foreign ministry officials last week but refused to say what they discussed.
Iran TV reported earlier Monday that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the RQ-170 Sentinel, which went down in Iran earlier this month. Tehran has cited the capture as a victory for Iran and displayed the nearly intact drone on state TV. U.S. officials say the aircraft malfunctioned and was not brought down by Iran.
Despite the incident, Clinton said the administration and its allies would continue to push Iran to engage over its nuclear program while at the same time increasing pressure on the regime with new, enhanced sanctions.
The Obama administration said Monday it has delivered a formal request to Iran for the return of a U.S. surveillance drone captured by Iranian armed forces, but is not hopeful that Iran will comply.
President Barack Obama said that the U.S. wants the top-secret aircraft back. "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said during a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday.
He wouldn't comment on what the Iranians might learn from studying the downed aircraft. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said it's difficult to know "just frankly how much they're going to be able to get from having obtained those parts."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Panetta said they're not optimistic about getting the drone back because of recent Iranian behavior that Clinton said indicated "that the path that Iran seems to be going down is a dangerous one for themselves and the region."
"We submitted a formal request for the return of our lost equipment as we would in any situation to any government around the world," Clinton told reporters at a State Department news conference The right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it,” Cheney said told Erin Burnett of CNN’s’ “OutFront”
Cheney said the president had three options on his desk but rejected all of them. “They involved sending somebody in to try to recover it or, if you can’t do that, and admittedly that would be a difficult operation, he certainly could have gone in and destroyed it on the ground with an air strike,” he said.
“But he didn’t take any of the options. He asked nicely for them to return it. And they aren’t going to do that,” Cheney said.
The president said Monday that the United States has asked for the drone back. “We’ll see how the Iranians respond,” Obama said.
Instead of returning the drone, Cheney said the Iranians will likely “send it back in pieces after they’ve gotten all the intelligence they can out of it.
With U.S. military involvement in Iraq ending this month, President Obama's team has unveiled an Iraq "interactive timeline" on the White House website.
Under the headline "Promise Kept," the timeline runs from Obama's inaugural address of Jan. 20, 2009 -- when he said, "we will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people" -- to this month's wrap-up; it features quotes and video clips from key Obama speeches on Iraq.
"American troops have served in Iraq with honor and distinction since March 19, 2003, but the cost to our nation has been great," says the website. "December 2011 marks the end of our mission in Iraq, and the fulfillment of a promise Barack Obama made to the American people even before he became president."
"Now," it adds, "President Obama has made another promise to the troops and their families: We will fight as hard for them as they return home as they have done for us these past nine years."
Targeting waste and making government more efficient have been a priority for my administration since day one. But as we work to tackle the budget deficit, we need to step up our game,” he said.
Obama passed the task over to Biden, who also appeared in the video to declare that cutting waste “depends on a relentless focus on making this a priority focus that can’t be delegated.”
Biden’s Tuesday priority meeting on waste in the government’s $3.6 trillion budget will wrap up in approximately 40 minutes.
Much of the meeting is expected to be taken up with short speeches by Biden, Secretary of the Teasury Tim Geithner, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Jim Cole, the deputy attorney general.
Sebelius and Cole are also slated to tout the campaign during a 12:15 p.m. phone call to reporters.
In June, Biden described the anti-waste campaign in grand terms. “We’re not just eliminating fraud and waste. We hope to be instilling an entire new culture that not only our administration, but every succeeding administration, will in fact pursue,” he said.
“We’re going to give you the government you expect and deserve,” he added.
Obama, too, had grand hopes about the anti-waste campaign: “We need to go after every dime, we need to make government work for you.”
White House officials have not released any information about the fundraiser.
Gingrich goes further pushing his Personal Savings Account Social Security plan by advocating none other than the Ryan-Sununu Bill which called for a total reform of the system, including privatization and personal accounts. That’s Paul Ryan (R-WI) and former Senator John Sununu. At this exact moment that he’s pitching their plan l look over to my television to see John Sununu, a big time Ronmney supporter, on Candy Crowley slamming Newt Gingrich for his lack of discipline. In fact, just last week the Romney camp launched the ad “With Friends Like Newt” attacking him for calling Paul Ryan’s recent budget proposals “Right wing social engineering”. It’s pretty clear to me that Newt’s going to max out his Home Depot card mending the bridges he’s burned with fellow Republicans. When people you praised just 5 years ago are now gunning for your head it’s not a good sign.
"Newt is back," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign strategist, during a briefing with reporters in Washington. "The question is can he sustain this."
Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, ended his 20-year congressional career after Republican losses in the 1998 elections.
Axelrod called Gingrich the original "Tea Partier" who had led three government shut-downs and worked to roll back environmental protections and cut the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
His rise has prompted Axelrod and his team to forecast a Republican primary battle that will last well into next year, perhaps as long as June -- which would, it believes, reveal more weaknesses in both candidates that will help Obama.
"Just remember the higher ... he climbs on the pole, the more you can see his butt," Axelrod said folksily about Gingrich, quoting some "homespun wisdom" he said he heard from a Chicago politician years ago.
"The Speaker's very high on the pole right now, and we'll see how people like the view."
The Obama campaign's attacks lend further legitimacy to Gingrich, who is ahead of Romney in Iowa and South Carolina, and is gaining ground in New Hampshire, where Romney has led for months.
Those three early voting states will help determine the outcome of the nominating contest, which Obama advisers said could still be a close race five or six months from now.
"You could see this thing going way deep, unless someone runs out of momentum or money," said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina.
Conservatives were quick to accuse President Barack Obama of embracing class warfare in his speech last week in Osawatomie, Kan. And liberal Democrats were thrilled to see a hint of the populist president they had hoped they were voting for in 2008.
The polarized reactions suggest that Obama’s speech succeeded in one of its goals: to frame the 2012 election as a clear choice between two philosophies, a contest he might be able to win, instead of a referendum on his own unhappy economic record.
But elections are won in the center, as Obama himself showed in 2008, when he attracted millions of independent voters with a now-outmoded message of post-partisan harmony. And it remains to be seen how the president’s new populism will play with independents.
Obama has struggled with two problems this fall as he prepared to launch his campaign for re-election. One, of course, is the still wretched state of the economy, something he can do little in the short run to improve. But the other problem is one he should be able to fix: the haziness of his own vision.
After a year of alternating clashes with Congress’ Republican leaders and attempts to meet them halfway, even Obama’s Democratic supporters weren’t sure what he stood for.
In the parlance of political image makers, Obama has forgotten to provide a narrative, an explanation of how we got here and how he plans to get us out.
His Kansas speech was an attempt to fill in the missing story line, and to restart his conversation with unhappy voters.
His message – that Main Street has been squeezed by Wall Street and that the future will be even bleaker unless we raise taxes on the wealthy and invest in education, science and infrastructure – isn’t new. But the president put it in a sharper, more moralistic framework than he has offered during most of his first three years in office.
It's funny, here in suburbia, where we are not rich but work hard and where me and many of my neighbors own small businesses, we are not in support of OWS and resent them saying they represent us. For that matter, it sure seems like plenty of 1%-ers from Michael Moore to Alec Baldwin support the OWS folks so it sort of taints their message too.
If 99% of the people agreed on what government should do, they wouldn't need to worry about occupying places and getting politicians to agree, they would win overwhelming landslides. There's no question people agree they want to see America go in a different direction, but never before has the electorate been so split on what to do and how. And it's not a two-sided argument as the media likes to portray. People have varying ideas and no candidate is perfect. That probably best explains the frustration. You can vote for someone but you know no matter what you have to hold your nose. So does your neighbor, who thinks very different from you. It's why no one is happy.
It is not the 1% that the people are protesting it is the failure of the financial institutions that were bailed out along with the corporations that have sent their jobs overseas that make us angry. It is the vast sums of money that corporatio'’s horde and the fact that they don't bring the jobs back to the United States.
The success of corporations and the economies around the world depend upon the ability of the middle class to purchase goods and services. If the middle class is not working they can't pay for these goods and services and hence the corporations will lose money and profits. When the corporations in the United States falter the world economies will also falter ... hence the Middle Class is the most important factor as a consumer that supports our economies. The very foundation... the middle class... upon which corporations depend are the very ones being cast out of the system of profits and gains and opportunity.
"What's happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class? That is not a left or right position. That is an American position."
And the question is going to be, in this election, whether or not we are able to reclaim that vital center of American thought and American values that says, 'We're all in this together' and, you know, it matters if we are building a broad-based middle class, where everybody is able to do their part and everybody's able to succeed.
I couldn't agree more. In fact, that's practically been the theme song of this site for the last few years. We've long argued that concerns about the middle class, economic disparity, upward mobility, empathy, and a common purpose shouldn't be seen as prerogatives of the left -- and that framing them as such is often a way of marginalizing them. So it's great to see President Obama attempt to change the tenor of the debate by refusing to see those values as either left or right.
But what, if the president wins a second term, does he plan to do to "reclaim that vital center"? The advantage to being the challenger is that the country gives you the benefit of the doubt while the incumbent's rhetoric has a scorecard to be judged against.
There’s no need for Republicans to be defensive about this subject. Although inequality has long been a major concern of liberals, most voters don’t seem to share it.
When the National Opinion Research Center asked people whether they believed the government has a responsibility “to reduce the differences in income between people with high incomes and those with low incomes,” in 2008, only 37 percent agreed. Forty-three percent disagreed, and 20 percent had no opinion. When pollsters ask people to name the top issue facing the country, almost nobody volunteers inequality, notes Karlyn Bowman, an opinion-research analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “I’ve literally never seen it cross the 1 percent threshold,” she says.
But if voters don’t especially care about how much money the rich are making, they do care about how much they themselves are making. A return to robust economic growth and rising middle-income wages doesn’t require reversing a decades-long trend toward higher inequality. It requires improvements to our monetary, tax and health-care policies.
Instead of talking about inequality -- even to rebut Obama’s dubious claims -- Republicans should talk about what voters care about, while pointing out that the president would rather chase ideological will-o’-the-wisps.
President Obama’s hour-long interview with 60 Minutes, recorded Friday and aired Sunday night, suggests his reelection will hinge on an unusual question: What exactly is the president’s job? Obama thinks voters won’t hold him accountable for failing to get Congress to solve the country’s problems. I think he’ll lose that bet.
Obama’s job approval has been negative in nearly every national poll since mid-July. No survey has shown a net positive approval rating. Three polls have shown a tie. Sixty-four have shown a net negative rating. That’s overwhelming evidence that voters don’t think he’s measuring up.
Yet Obama, in his interview with CBS correspondent Steve Kroft, made clear that he thinks he’s doing what’s been asked of him. How does he square his report card with the public’s
A lot comes down to the labor force participation rate. At the beginning of the recession in 2007, 66 percent of Americans were either employed or actively looking for work. Two years later, that’s dropped to 64 percent, as workers have become discouraged by the gruesome job market and simply dropped out altogether. That affects the official unemployment rate, which only measures the number of people who have actively sought out work in the past four weeks. As Ezra wrote Monday, if there were as many people answering ads and dressing up for job interviews today as there were in 2007, the official unemployment number would be closer to 11 percent.
That brings us to the prognostication part. Calculated Risk crunches the numbers and concludes that if the participation rate stays at 64 percent, then the economy will need to create an average of 167,000 jobs each month to get down to 8 percent unemployment by Election Day next year. In 2011, we’ve hit that level in only four months out of 11 thus far. And, remember, many economists expect the U.S. economy to wade through a sticky patch next year, thanks to Europe’s woes. In other words, it won’t be easy.
Meanwhile, if the economy perks up and some of those disheartened workers started looking for work again, then the participation rate would nudge upward — say, to 64.5 percent. If that happens we’d need to add 260,000 new jobs each month to get the unemployment rate down to 8 percent by Election Day. And, apart from the one-time Census bump in 2010, the economy has never created that many new jobs since the recession started. Even the best year in the past decade (2005) didn’t average that many new jobs over the year. Which means we could very well see the official unemployment rate go up even if companies are hiring at a modest clip.
That’s not a terrible thing. The actual state of the job market is much more important than a headline stat. But people (and the media) mostly focus on the headline stat. And while an 8 percent official unemployment rate by Election Day is possible, it seems fairly unlikely at this point. Here’s another chart showing just how far we have to go.
Every now and then a smart politician crosses people up by telling the truth, and President Obama did so on that infomercial he did with “60 Minutes” on Sunday night.
From Barack Obama: “It doesn’t really matter who the nominee is gonna be. The core philosophy that they’re expressing is the same. And the contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and what– where they say they want to take the country is gonna be stark.”
Whoever the Republicans nominate will have to run the same gauntlet of lies and false accusations from the left that will go unchallenged by anyone in the media.
Pro-abortion women will say the Republican candidate wants to turn the clock back to 1950s and put women back in the kitchen, when they are not getting back-alley abortions.
Civil rights relics will call other Republican proposals Jim Crow laws. The selection seems random, such as the cry of the Wolf of Race over Republican proposals to require voters to show some ID at the polls.
It does not matter who Republicans nominate. The race and sex cards will be played. Conservatives can laugh at how overplayed it all is, but there must be a key vote or two in there, or else the Two Davids — Plouffe and Axelrod — would not bother. Or maybe after 40 years of these turn-back-the-clock routines, liberals do this out of habit. Maybe they have learned no new tricks since 1980 when we saw how this worked to stop Governor Reagan from being elected president.
The knee-jerk turn-back-the-clock campaign has already begun. Via Weasel Zippers:
A Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday on the House floor that Republican legislators around the country are purposefully trying to deny blacks the right to vote by pushing for voter identification laws.
But nope. Kroft asked none of those questions; nor did he press Obama about his views on indefinitely detaining American citizens; nor did he ask about the killing without due process of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American; nor did he ask about the controversy surrounding whether the morning-after pill should be available over-the-counter for people of all ages or not; nor did he ask about the private security contractors that America will pay to stay in Iraq after we leave; nor about the state secrets privilege; nor about aggressively prosecuting whistleblowers; nor about many other issues of concern to liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, all of whom have earnest complaints.
Instead we got hard hitting exchanges like this one:
KROFT: I'm sure your poll numbers will probably automatically go up as soon as there is a Republican candidate in the race. I mean, that's normal. I mean, you're being judged now on your performance.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, no, no. I'm being judged against the ideal. And, you know, [Vice President] Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, "Don't judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative."
"Have you given up on the Republicans? Have you stopped reaching out to them? Are you just out there now trying to get your message across?"
"What do you make of this surge by former Speaker Gingrich?"
"Tell me, what do you consider your major accomplishments?"
What this interview represents -- like so many broadcast news interviews with sitting politicians and high level bureaucrats -- is the charade of asking tough questions to hold the president accountable. And the utter failure to ask any actually tough questions, to unearth any new facts of significance, to force any sort of reckoning before the television cameras on a matter of importance. If I were advising Obama, I'd make sure that Kroft got the next exclusive interview too.
Controversial in certain circles, that is. The law rescued Gov. Jan Brewer's reelection campaign and retains 2-1 support in recent Arizona polls. There have been numerous copycat bills in state legislatures across the country and the most successful have attracted Obama administration lawsuits of their own.
Russell Pearce has been down this road before. The former Arizona state senate president is the architect of SB 1070 and other immigration control measures -- including a law requiring businesses to use the E-Verify system to check the legal status of their workers, which also ended up before the Supreme Court.
"We won 5 to 3 on the E-Verify case," Pearce says. "The same issues and constitutional principles are at stake here. I expect we'll win 5 to 3 again." (Justice Elena Kagan, the former solicitor general, recused herself in the last case and will do so again in the forthcoming one.) Indeed, the Supreme Court found that Arizona immigration law fell "well within the confines of the authority Congress chose to leave to the States."
Pearce was recalled in November, but notes that "amnesty, the DREAM Act, and open borders" were all downplayed in the race. The Republican who replaced him, Jerry Lewis, described SB 1070 as "a good start."
Oddly, the case comes as the Obama administration touts record deportations of illegal immigrants. Most of the spike in removals comes from illegal aliens who committed other crimes, many of whom were already in state or local custody. So why doesn't the administration support SB 1070?
Last month, the court agreed to hear an appeal brought by 26 Republican-led states and decide on the constitutionality of the healthcare law championed by the president.
The immigration case involves a clash between the federal authorities and several Republican-led states over who can enforce the laws against illegal immigrants.
Arizona lawmakers, frustrated by what they called the federal government’s failure to enforce the immigration laws, passed their own enforcement measure. Known as SB 1070, it included several provisions that require the police to check the immigration status of persons who were stopped. Officers were to detain those who could not show evidence they were legal residents.
Shortly after the measure became law, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in Phoenix, arguing that state measure conflicted with the federal government’s exclusive authority to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked much of the Arizona law from taking effect, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her decision on a 2-1 vote.
In August, Gov. Jan Brewer appealed to the high court. She said the federal authorities had trampled on the state’s turf.
Paul Clement, the former U.S. solicitor general, represented Arizona and argued that the states have an “inherent police power” to enforce laws within their own borders.
Current Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., representing the Obama administration, urged the court last month to turn down Arizona’s appeal.
The justices instead said they will hear the case of Arizona vs. United States and are likely to set the arguments for April. The court’s eventual ruling is likely to determine the fate of similar immigration laws adopted in the past year by Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah.
