Obama Not Obsessed With Keeping Job: Robert Gibbs

[peace frog]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Republicans must decide whether they're going to "swear allegiance to the tea party" or work with Democrats to create jobs.

Gibbs, who now advises President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, tells NBC's "Today" show Congress should "pay attention to creating jobs again."

He also suggested that some Republicans "do not want to see this economy get better" because they know continuing misery will likely improve their election prospects.

Gibbs says Obama favors a number of moves to help businesses step up hiring. He says "the president is not focused on keeping his job, most of all. He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/obama-robert-gibbs_n_927974.html

[Oceansaway]

1. what a load of crap....

they're ALL Corporate Owned !

[Xipe Totec]

2. Whatever you do, don't think about a pink elephant nt

[Autumn]

3. Then he needs to step aside and let

someone who is interested in winning run. He seems to be running to loose.

[closeupready]

4. Yep. Either he wants it or he doesn't. Make up your mind.

nt

[MissDeeds]

17. My thoughts exactly

If he had a strong vision for improving the country, creating jobs, restoring the economy, he'd be enthusiastic and motivated. Apparently, he doesn't.

If "the president is not focused on keeping his job, most of all..." why should we be focused on helping him keep it?

[SusanaMontana41]

46. My thoughts exactly.

:fistbump:

[avebury]

28. Agreed

[Liberalynn]

49. You said it!!!!!

[Lorien]

53. Maybe that's the game plan

make our party look so weak that the repugs take all, then he'll no longer need to take an active roll in advancing their agenda. :shrug:

[Autumn]

55. That's a scary thought

and I think it could be plausible.

[woo me with science]

56. Step aside for a liberal, goddammit. nt

[Starbucks Anarchist]

60. You didn't read the whole sentence.

He says "the president is not focused on keeping his job, most of all. He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."

As in his top priority is creating jobs and not simply looking out for his own. I know it's commonplace here to just assume/wish he would drop out and to always think he's a terrible person, but if people on this site would actually read what is posted, they might learn something.

[AtomicKitten]

64. +1

Of course you must know it doesn't really matter what he actually said. All those pesky extra words just get in the way of yet another berating.

[liberal N proud]

5. By helping create jobs for others wouldn't that translate into helping his prospects

of keeping his?

What this means is we have a President who is there to work, and not JUST work on getting reelected.

[phantom power]

6. If he really is focused on jobs, he must believe Reaganomics is the way to do it.

[bemildred]

7. He's had his chance, time for somebody new.

I admit I was wrong about him, I thought he was a lot more ambitious to get things done, I thought he had the fire in his belly.

[doc03]

8. It's obvious from his record the last few months that he isn't

obsessed with keeping his job.

[harun]

9. He's done.

[cascadiance]

10. He might be right that he's not focused on keeping his job, BUT....

the followup question is that in the process of making that potential sacrifice, if his real goal is to REALLY help progressives, populists, and the American people in general...

or if he's willing to go down for the corporatists and set himself up for a nice cushy job later by not really working for us if he feels that he can't maintain this cloak over his true agenda too much longer.

The problem is that Obama still is hard to read on where his priorities really lie, and he's been that way throughout his presidency so far. Democrats have been saying he's been playing chess and to wait for later when he plays his end game.

The problem is that now we're reaching that point where he's soon going to have to play out his end game and his agenda will be more exposed than it was before. If it is really for all of us, I think it needs to come out soon with something more than just words. The base is getting very impatient and saw a big opportunity to do this missed when he chose not to take the risks involved with doing the right thing to challenge the PTB to use the 14th amendment to help resolve the debt ceiling debate. As more of these opportunities come and go, it becomes clearer that his true agenda doesn't really measure up to his words, and that his re-election becomes really questionable, which brings me to my question of where he wants to be afterward if he's pushing the envelope to not get re-elected.

[BNJMN]

11. The dog that finally caught the car. But, in this case, we all get run over....by the car.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8DXKWSG2Zyg/TdGlWQ_pQZI/AAAAAAAAACw/rvH_SBm8JnU/s1600/the+thinker.jpg

[_ed_]

12. Utter, complete, unadulterated, 100% pure American BULLSHIT

Yeah, sure, a professional politician doesn't care about re-election.

[ClarkUSA]

13. Contrary to bilious PUMAs & freepers obsessed with attacking him 24/7 for any shit they can make up.

He has the toughest job on earth yet he's targeted every day by insanely hateful people.

Nevertheless, he has the support of 81% of liberal Democrats according to the most recent Gallup Poll. This fact alone speaks for itself against all those who are obsessed with finding fault with President Obama but never with the Republicans who try to block his every legislative move.

[stlsaxman]

15. + 1k!

[earthside]

18. That's a very bad poll number.

If nearly 20 percent of 'liberal Democrats' do not support this 'liberal' Democratic president in November 2012, then he is toast.

And time is running out for him to make credible amends with that critical 20 percent.

[ClarkUSA]

23. Prove your claim. FYI, Bill Clinton never got close to 81% approval from liberals in his first term.

History, too, suggests that Obama hasn't lost any outsized chunk of his liberal base.

In a January 1995 Washington Post/ABC poll, 65 percent of liberals approved of the job President Bill Clinton was doing while 32 percent disapproved. (Overall, 45 percent approved of the job Clinton was doing while 51 percent disapproved.)

Gallup's December 1994 data shows similar numbers with Clinton at 61 percent, 65 percent and 66 percent in its three weekly tracking polls of that month... And so, talk of an Obama liberal problem is mostly just talk at the moment.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/does-obama-have-a-liberal-prob.html

[SomeGuyInEagan]

27. Makes sense, Clinton was far from liberal as President.

Contrary to the noise from the right, Clinton was pretty much in the middle.

[Sadie5]

45. Clinton was the best

president of my time. He created a robust economy, jobs were so plentiful that it was a workers market. Clinton made home ownership no longer a dream but a reality. There were no wars to speak of that drained out economy. Just what was it you posters did not like about Clinton, the peace or the prosperity. Clinton leaned right when the situation called for it, and no...,no Democrat likes to see a Democratic president lean right, but he did what was best for the people.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

66. Yeah, best of my time as well.

But is it not surprising that he would not be considered "liberal" by those who consider themselves to be liberal, because he governed in the middle and at times reached right.

[No Elephants]

67. Do you know anything about the Democratic Leadership Council, of which Bill and Hillary were

founding members? Its major purpose was to pull the Democratic Party to the right.

Bill Clinton demanded that repeal of Glass Steagall be on his desk ASAP. Harkin, one of only six or eight Senators to vote against repeal, was recently on C-Span recalling how strong the pressure from Clinton and Greenspan was. That led to near global economic collapse of 2008.

Bill Clinton crafted the abomination DADT, signed NAFTA and signed DOMA.

He started extraordinary rendition. He had OBL in his sights and failed to fire because two or three people were near OBL. Two or three.

WACO was a mess, too.

His shenanigans in the Oval Office made Dummya's religious act look good when he promised to bring honor back to the White House.

Outdid St. Ronnie when it came to de-regulation.


Threw the poor under the bus with "welfare reform"

There's a few others.

[Sadie5]

24. Clark...you said it better

than I could have. I wasn't an Obama fan, I wanted Hillary to get the nomination. For voicing my opinion I was heckled, accused of being a racist, and practically run off of this site. Now I find those same people who harassed me seem to make their daily posts, 'hate Obama' posts. I really do have to agree that some here spend their time just looking for ways to write Obama hate posts. Yes, I am behind Obama, was as soon as he got the nomination because he is a Democrat and he had to be better than than what Bush was and what we went through for 8 years. If you keep up the Obama hate theme that is what you will get again, a Bush look alike and act alike. Do you really want this country to fail.

[OwnedByFerrets]

14. But will still spend one billion to keep it.

[ClarkUSA]

16. What "one billion"? That's media speculation. No one from his campaign ever said such a thing.

[No Elephants]

68. Didn't he raise three quarters of a billion for his campaign last time?

[SKKY]

19. Of course Obama cares if he keeps his job or not.

Why would he go through all of this if he didn't? And I also honestly think he wants American's back at work, and our country moving in the right direction. The difference between him and the GOP contenders is that the two are not mutually exclusive for him. For the GOP, they really can't have an economy on the mend, unemployment going down, and expect to get elected. So, they basically have to ensure our economy stays in the tank (i.e. Budget ceiling debate, no proposal for jobs bills, no tax increases for the rich, etc.) so they can say, "See!? His policies don't work! Vote for us!" Ultimately, I think Obama knows this, and will let them continue down this path. I also think it won't work, and is a sure plan for GOP failure because the only thing they are going to do is out crazy eachother on these notions that "Most of America is not in favor of tax increases," or that "America is a country that is moving to the right." Who was it that said, "If your enemy is making a mistake, don't interrupt him." It's brilliant politics on his part, to be honest.

[Nancy Waterman]

20. This is excellent messaging!!

I support what Gibbs is saying. All this naysaying from the board here only hurts
and in my mind is pretty suspect as to where it comes from.

[PurityOfEssence]

65. It's amazing: to some people, ANYTHING he does is sheer genius

He's transcendent. He's the Bobby Fisher of politics. He's the cleverest of them all as he ambles us back to feudalism.

We need a Grant; he's McClellan.

[JJW]

21. How about we try a surge in jobs

Let's throw trillions of dollars in creating jobs, like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[peace frog]

22. Stop making sense

Remember, Obama doesn't care whether he keeps his job. And at the rate he's been going, he won't.

[russspeakeasy]

25. Dear Mr. President....Call, or fold.

:spank:

[kestrel91316]

26. If he doesn't keep his job, we get stuck with christofascists in power

for another 4 years. And that's just peachy with him??

That right there tells me more than I wanted to know about the man I once supported 100%, no questions asked.

[Erose999]

29. If he doesn't want the job he should make an LBJ style announcement ASAP so we can have a primary.

The longer he dicks around about it is the less time campaigns will have to organize.

[Safetykitten]

31. Excellent idea.

[Erose999]

32. Also, Gibbs is still a douchebag. It sucks to hear that he's back on for the campaign after he

continuously insulted the base.

[No Elephants]

69. +1

[kath]

62. "I shall not seek, and I will not accept...".

Gawd, I've been fantasizing about those words for weeks now.

[bemildred]

33. There comes a point where one has to take a stand and defend something.

If we need another civil war to get rid of the reactionaries that want to go back to the "good old days", so be it. They are disemboweling the country as we speak. I for one do not want to live under a religious tyranny. Appeasement is not doing the job.

[PurityOfEssence]

37. Really?

He seems quite capable of continuing on the same bent regardless of events.

There's a perverse need to be some kind of transcendent being who can bridge the great divide, and this hunger trumps everything. Besides all that, he's an ultramoderate and really doesn't have that many hard-and-fast policy stances.

He still thinks that the reactionaries will finally come over and like him and that all will be well. Bill Clinton thinks the same thing about himself. It's nuts.

[bemildred]

39. I'm not talking about him. nt

[ProgressIn2008]

30. I find myself in a place where I care not how rich powerful men feel about keeping their jobs. nt

[SkyDaddy7]

34. WTF?? The headline is misleading as usual!!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

63. But it feeds into the bullshit narrative so many here like.

[BadtotheboneBob]

35. Perhaps the initial signal that he's to pull an 'LBJ'...

... not seeking re-election, thus opening the door for a Democratic Primary and stealing the thunder from all the GOP Primaries. Just a thought...

[bemildred]

36. Interesting idea. nt

[Inuca]

38. Don't be an...

He alredy announced he is running quite a while back. Stop with the innanities, or you will be unhappily (I hope) welcoming President Perry.

[BadtotheboneBob]

42. Be a what?

Were you implying an ad hominem attack, but lacked the courage to do so?... I said it was just a thought. One can have those can't they? Or do they have to be in 'lock step' with your opinion? And I am not the first person to mention the idea of a Democratic primary. Sen. Bernie Sanders did so last week, I believe. Would he be a "Don't be an"... Too?

[bemildred]

43. LBJ was running too, until he wasn't.

We got Hubert instead, because he could beat McCarthy.

[primavera]

48. That would require integrity

A willingness to put his money where his mouth is and share, for the good of the country, in the sacrifice he's so zealously promoting for everyone other than the rich. Haven't seen a whole lot of that coming from the president, I'm afraid.

[primavera]

40. Oh good, then he'll give back all of those corporate campaign contributions?

So that he will be unencumbered by mixed loyalties and free to do what's necessary to create jobs rather than just increase profit margins for corporations? Right, I didn't think so. Mr. President, please don't insult our intelligence, we aren't all idiots.

[Overseas]

41. Strange comment.Then why give Boehner 98% of what he wants to appeal to

the "Independent Swing Voter" of decades ago? Why follow the destructive path recommended by the outdated Third Way group then?

Why make such a show of stomping on your base then? I thought that was another of the already-outdated-in-the-90's New Democrat stuff-- "Show those Independents that you're not beholden to the unions, environmentalists or bleeding-heart anti-poverty social workers and teachers. Show 'em you're no anti-war hippie."

It is more scary to think that he was not focused on keeping his job when he took the public option off the table so early, and made the ridiculous deal of 1yr unemployment insurance extension to 2yrs of Bush tax cuts.

edited to add-- On the other hand, if you were concerned about keeping your job, why would you compromise with the party that hates your guts and wants to up the misery index in order to defeat you?

[Poll_Blind]

44. That....is a load of crap. Not like anyone needed me to tell them that, though. n/t

PB

[kirby]

47. I misread the headline...

I thought it said Obama Not Obsessed With Creating Jobs.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

50. "He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."

Seems everybody didn't read this part. Surprise.

[Lorien]

54. And how does he propose to DO that??

more words with no action?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

59. Here's one.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=747329&mesg_id=747329

[SammyWinstonJack]

51. Chess isn't his game and he'd be lousy at poker, too.

:evilgrin:

[bemildred]

52. Well, definitely not poker. nt

[JDPriestly]

57. Well, then he should welcome a primary challenge.

[Hawkowl]

58. +1000

Obviously he isn't interested in keeping his job the way he keeps abusing his supporters.

[Doctor_J]

61. That explains why he panders to those who will never vote for him

it makes sense now, in a really depressing way

[No Elephants]

70. Why are people acting as though Gibbs somehow acquired credibility?