Obama’s latest `gaffe’: Vowing to engage more Americans in the political process

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obamas-latest-gaffe-vowing-to-engage-more-americans-in-the-political-process/2012/09/20/bfea1b9c-0361-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_blog.html

Posted at 05:18 PM ET, 09/20/2012
Obama’s latest `gaffe’: Vowing to engage more Americans in the political process
By Greg Sargent


So the supposed Obama gaffe of the day is that he said this at the Univision town hall: “The most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside.”

Dave Weigel can’t fathom why this is supposed to be a gaffe. Steve Benen is similarly perplexed, and labels the whole thing a joke. And yet Republicans and conservatives are pouncing. Mitt Romney slammed Obama over the remarks today, arguing that he has thrown in the “white flag of surrender.” So it’s now a real story.

Okay, then. Here’s Obama’s quote:

“The fact that we haven’t been able to change the tone in Washington is disappointing. We know now that as soon as I came into office you already had meetings among some of our Republicans colleagues saying, `how do we figure out how to beat the president?’ I think that I’ve learned some lessons over the last four years. And the most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside. And that’s how the big accomplishments, like health care, got done, was because we mobilized the American people to speak out...something that I’d really like to concentrate on in my second term is being in a much more constant conversation with the American people, so they can put pressure on Congress to move some of these issues forward.”

This is a gaffe? The idea seems to be that the isolated sentence shows Obama admitting failure at one of the central goals of his presidency and declaring this goal impossible. Was this an admission of failure? Well, yes, it was. You know how we know this? Because he said so right there in that first sentence: “The fact that we haven’t been able to change the tone in Washington is disappointing.”

snip//

Obama today regretted that he had not achieved more cooperation from Congress and said he wished he’d had more success breaking the stranglehold of partisanship and gridlock on the political process. He said he hopes to do more in his second term to mobilize public opinion — not just to achieve more of the change he achieved that way during his first term, but also to force more fundamental change in how Congress operates. If Romney thinks the promise to engage more Americans in the political process is a gaffe, that is certainly newsworthy.

Romney has really hit the political jackpot with this one! Maybe he can organize a second whole GOP convention centered around it.

[fugop]

1. I'm a little worried...

I fear the GOP and the media might pull some muscles, they're reaching so hard!

Know what else is funny? Apparently Romney said the exact same thing:
[link:http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2007/12/30/4429528-mitt-on-huck-mccain-ann|

[animalcrackers]

7. lol thanks for the laugh

This is even more pathetic then the lame "government is something we all belong too" attack. But the said fact is that some people will just eat this up with a spoon, whether or not they actually understand Obama's statement

[Cha]

11. Of course, he did

They may have their skills. Sen. McCain has been there in Washington 27 years. So he certainly has political skill, but I believe that at this time, to change Washington, it would be helpful to have somebody who comes with more private sector skill, experience outside Washington. I don't think you change Washington from the inside. I think you change it from the outside."

[Avalux]

2. Romney is sooooo desperate. What Obama said is a good thing!

And completely opposite of "I can't help those people", as Romney did, writing off half the country.

I honesty can't make any sense of what his campaign strategy is at this point....I don't think there is one. Just throw shit at the wall to see if something (ANYTHING!!!) sticks. Pathetic.

[Scuba]

3. Give him a Democratically-controlled Congress and watch the change happen!

[Jennicut]

4. Putting public pressure on Congress and the President IS a huge way to get anything done in DC.

And the Repubs are totally to blame for lack of cooperation. They made a pact from day one to try and bring down this President and not work with him on anything.

[oswaldactedalone]

5. What a load of crap

I think Thuglicans would rather explode a nuclear bomb over the whole country than to see this great man win re-election.

Pathetic pigs all of them.

[JRLeft]

6. Romney may be the worst candidate ever.

[Bjorn Against]

8. So does this mean the Republicans believe only the government can fix America's problems?

[Blue Idaho]

9. You can smell the desperation...

Next thing you know we'll hear RMONEY is attacking the President for maintaining a body core temperature of 98.6!

[global1]

10. Sound Like Another Rmoney Gaffe To Me.....

Obama wants to engage more Americans in the political process which is good. Rmoney basically is saying that he doesn't want to engage more Americans in the political process. This is evident in his writing off 47% of Americans and Repugs all around the country trying to disenfranchise American voters versus engaging the in the political process.

This is something that can be turned around on Rmoney as it just confirms his 47% remarks.