Tuesday Open Thread [10.30.12]

Filed in National by on October 30, 2012

First Read: “Now with Sandy moving away from the East Coast, the real impact begins today — assessing the damage, realizing what happened, and the government (federal, state, and local) beginning the recovery. And this is the true high-wire act for President Obama and his administration: making sure the recovery and relief begins immediately and as smoothly as possible. Every hiccup could get amplified; that’s the real political danger for the president. Then again, he has the bully pulpit and a job to do. Already, the late-night calls to Republican Gov. Chris Christie are public (thanks to Christie, not the president, by the way).”

Mike Allen: “As the presidential campaigns gingerly navigate the post-landfall environment, Mitt Romney has the more awkward and hazardous path. President Obama has been doing his day job, has a natural platform and can command a national audience at any moment. Romney, who felt he was surfing a wave of momentum, has to find a way to keep campaigning in states that weren’t affected, without looking cheap or opportunistic. At 11 a.m., per Romney’s schedule, he ‘will attend a storm relief event at the James S. Trent Arena in Kettering, Ohio, where he will be joined by Richard Petty and Randy Owen.’ This is risky business. If Romney is as capable of presidential mien as his advisers think, it will show. The downside could be devastating.”

“Romney has to avoid anything reminiscent of one of the campaign’s most cringe-worthy moments, when Paul Ryan breezed through a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio, after the homeless patrons had left for the morning, put on a crispy-white apron and scrubbed a pot that appeared to the pool to already be clean. (Charity officials later clarified that it was dirty.) Romney has the chance to draw on his years as a Mormon bishop to show he understands tough times, and knows how to serve solemnly. But he has to resist obvious photo-opps.”

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  1. cassandra_m says:

    And what the political press has to do is to be clear about reporting during this period. There is something of a difference between President Obama doing his day job and running the government vs. Romney campaigning.

    Not that they’ll get this, of course. Because they’ve been pretending that they are both equals on the stage, when they aren’t. False equivalence between governing and campaigning demeans the governing and certainly isn’t about informing anyone.

  2. cassandra_m says:

    John Avarosis documents the failure of the Rmoney “disaster relief rally” and how even the MSM reporters at the event seem confused by the really bad rebranding of a campaign event.

  3. Gloworm says:

    “False equivalence between governing and campaigning demeans the governing and certainly isn’t about informing anyone.”

    Can I use this to describe the entire last 4 years?

  4. mediawatch says:

    Glo: if you’re referring to the Republicans in Congress, go right ahead.

  5. Steve Newton says:

    @cassandra–but that false equivalence is inherent in any challenge to an incumbent executive, isn’t it? If Jeff Cragg were actually running a campaign for governor, he would be at the same disadvantage.

  6. cassandra m says:

    I think that the false equivalence is a lazy way to avoid reporting on substantive issues of governing (or lack thereof). There isn’t much reason in my mind to treat Romney or Cragg as a player in a governing narrative that they clearly do not have a place in. Both sides do it is bad enough when applied to campaigning, but is clearly wrong when reporting on governing.

  7. cassandra m says:

    Funny — Heck of a job Brownie thinks that President Obama reacted too fast to Sandy.

    Hope that someone is concocting a special voodoo curse for this fool.