"Does Obama Think Labor Wasted Money on Lincoln?" The Gibbs tap dance.

[chill_wind]

Does Obama Think Labor Wasted Money on Lincoln?

Jun 9 2010, 4:56 PM ET

Did President Obama agree with the senior White House officials who expressed significant frustration to Ben Smith and me about labor's $10 million decision to try and beat Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. Here's what Robert Gibbs said in today's briefing. See the bolded portion. Seems the answer is: kinda of, yes.

Robert, back to Arkansas for just a second. A senior White House official called reporters last night and said after the results were known, "Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toilet in a pointless exercise." Is it the official word from the White House on the results of the Arkansas primary?

MR. GIBBS: I don't think that the President would necessarily agree with that characterization made by somebody here. I think we would certainly agree that we are likely to have very close elections in very many places throughout the country in November. And while the President might not have agreed with the exact characterization, I think that whether or not that money might have been better spent in the fall on closer elections between somebody -- between people who cared about an agenda that benefited working families and those that didn't, that money might come in more handy then.

Q I assume the President now would want to reach out to those who were supporting Bill Halter and say, please get behind Blanche Lincoln, she's going to be our nominee. Is that the way to reach out to Halter's supporters, by accusing them of flushing money down the toilet?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think that everybody that supported one of the Democrats will have an obligation to now, as the President would, and has, in races that the nominee he has supported hasn't won, now support the Democratic nominee.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/10/06/does-obama-think-labor-wasted-money-on-lincoln/57935


Is this what they call in the trade "the non-denial denial"?



edit-- forgot to use ambinder's own bold edit

[laughingliberal]

1. Disgusting. Rec for the post. nt

[chill_wind]

3. Ambinder was another that got the "Senior Official" shootin' mouth commentary last night, too.

Doesn't leave Gibbs a lot of room to deny it.

[dflprincess]

2. We are under no "obligation" to support any candidate who votes against our interests.

They owe us, we don't owe them.

[saracat]

4. Always they remind us of our "obligation " to support them yet take exception to their obligation

to support us.They should have stood with the Unions. They owe the Unions not the other way around. There seems to be this twisted reasoning that the Unions ought to be grateful to the WH and the Democrats.

[texastoast]

5. +100 n/t

[laughingliberal]

12. Yeah, straight through the looking glass. Since when did it become the people work for them? nt

[amborin]

21. sums it up exactly: WH thinks labor should support WH & Dems even after getting repeatedly shafted

[Bluebear]

6. "made by somebody*COUGH RAHM*here"

[chill_wind]

9. Heh. Ambinder said wasn't his squirt-gun buddy

but Kossacks aren't buying Axelrod.

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2010/6/8/874250/-AR-Sen:-In-Pyrrhic-victory,-White-House-attacks-labor.html

[suffragette]

26. Still "that characterization made by somebody here" means Gibbs just verified

it was a White House official.

And that verification just smacked down all those posts about the source not being from the White House or that not being a source at all.

That deserves some bolding or italicizing so it will stand out.

[chill_wind]

27. Yes. Let's do that again. It really is getting lost on people.

MR. GIBBS: I don’t think that the President would necessarily agree with that characterization made by somebody here. I think we would certainly agree that we are likely to have very close elections in very many places throughout the country in November. And while the President might not have agreed with the exact characterization, I think that whether or not that money might have been better spent in the fall on closer elections between somebody -- between people who cared about an agenda that benefited working families and those that didn’t, that money might come in more handy then.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Actually, the hairsplitting, careful "exact" refinement is my favorite part.
Gibbs didn't help today. Ambinder has updates that Labor's even more pissed, now.

[suffragette]

29. Bold and italic

That highlights those appropriately.
Absolutely agree with you on the use of "exact" there. That also shows how carefully and specifically Gibbs was choosing all his words which makes the verification that much stronger.

Might be the last straw for labor. They were already dumped on hugely by the whole BS "cadillac" health plan meme.
Now this.

BTW: Here's the direct link to the press briefing with those quotes. They are at the bottom.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/press-briefing-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-6910

[chill_wind]

30. Thanks. Transcript linked downthread. GMTA and all :-)

If that was supposed to be Gibbs' attempt at any damage control, it really gets an "F".

[suffragette]

31. GMTA, indeed!

The more I look at his statement, the more arrogant it is.

It looks more like laying the groundwork for blame for potential losses in the fall on unions.

[Autumn]

7. Obligation ? I am not obliged to give

my vote. I no longer will give my vote to just anyone because they call themselves a Democrat, they want my vote they had better ACT like a Democrat. Spin that.

[katandmoon]

8. It wasn't HALTER they wasted their money on.

[amborin]

10. K&R

[depakid]

11. More evidence at just how insular the senior advisors are- which has made them prone to group think

[volvoblue]

13. I think there are many who jump to conclusions too easy

who will jump on the chance to blame and point fingers at Obama regardless. And that is on the left.
We do not know if there was friendly advice given before the primary.
To assume, as always, that the WH is some abandoning labor is such a joke. And something to make the self righteous purity trolls on the left feel all warm and fuzzy inside

[saracat]

15. Read any Robert Gibbs lately? It seems Labor was correct in understanding they were insulted.

And they continue to be insulted. I guess they can just close the checkbook since they have no obligation to give to candidates who work against them.

[Bluebear]

36. +

[chill_wind]

18. There's been a huge effort here to try to discredit that Senior Officials

were shootin off at Labor last night at all.

Ambinder above pretty well puts that wishful thinking to bed.

I'm not going to put words in Obama's own mouth. I'll leave that to Gibbs above.

[Coyote_Bandit]

14. Maybe

the people of Arkansas don't much care what Obama or the fucking carpetbaggers think.

Obama's job approval rating in the state has been at or below 40% for over 6 months now - Arkansas has consistently been in the 10 states giving Obama the lowest job approval rating.

There are long deep Clinton loyalties in Arkansas. Even while Bill was still Governor it was Hillary who was repeatedly named to the list of most influential and powerful folks in the state. Many long time Arkansans think more of her than they do of Obama. The ugliness of the Obama/Hilary contest did nothing but reinforce that perception.

Whether or not the carpetbaggers wasted their money is a whole hell of a lot less important than whether they inflicted enough damage on a Dem incumbent to make it likely that a Puke takes that Senate seat this fall.

If John Boozman does indeed take that Senate seat this Fall I will blame the Obama administration and the fucking carpetbaggers.

[emulatorloo]

19. Curious, who are the carpetbaggers in your analogy?

Just wondering if we are on the same page. To me it looks like Lincoln was able to spin herself as "the underdog" being besieged by outside money and outside bloggers. Looks like the efforts totally backfired. Most people at DU will probably want me banned for saying that, but thats what it looks like.

[Coyote_Bandit]

20. Before the national healthcare reform debate began

both Puke and Dem interests outside the state of Arkansas began making huge media ad buys targeting Senator Lincoln. Election season was in full onslaugt and it became impossible to enjoy broadcast media without being subjected to the out of state shit shovelers.

Neither Dollar Bill - an elected state official who had pushed hard to get the lottery approved - nor Blanche, the incumbent Senator, were unknown to the people of Arkansas. In January, Blanche held nearly a 20% lead over Dollar Bill in polls. A lead that steadily deteriorated under the onslaught of "Call Senator Lincoln" ads from all sides of the political spectrum.

When I speak of carpetbaggers I am referring to out of state interests across the political spectrum who were arrogant enough to think their agenda and priorities ought to be substituted for those of the people of Arkansas.

Going into the election last November Blanche had a 45% job approval - in a conservative state with more Pukes than Dems. Blanche was clearly a target of groups with both Puke and Dem affiliations. No doubt voters tired of the seige and recognized her as the target. No doubt some affirmatively resented the interferrence of outside interests. And then there is the simple fact that Clinton loyalties run deep there. Arkansas is one of the 10 states that has rather consistently given Obama his lowest job approval ratings. No doubt there are still resentments there that linger from the Hillar/Obama primary ugliness.

[emulatorloo]

22. Thanks, I appreciate your insight

We had a contested primary for Democratic State Senator in our State. I tried to imagine last night if something similar to what Arkansas experienced had happened here. Voters really would not have liked it. Even without the Clinton dimension.

[Coyote_Bandit]

23. Having observed this

I will probably never intrude into an election - directly or indirectly - where I am not entitled to vote. I resented the arrogance of out of state groups and interests who thought their judgment should be substituted for that of the people of Arkansas. It was insulting and offensive.

The unfortunate thing is that before all this primary ugliness Blanche was an incumbent who had at least an even chance of being re-elected. That's no longer true IMHO. The odds are in the favor of the Puke candidate, opthamologist turned politician John Boozman. That would be true even if Halter had taken the party nomination. There ain't nothing like winning the battle and losing the war. If Blanche goes down in defeat in November I'm blaming all the fucking carpetbaggers - and apparently those connections go all the way to the White House.

[janx]

24. I can't blame you for the resentment. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

25. You mean reactionary rightwing carpetbaggers who supported Lincoln?

Americans for Job Security spent millions of advertising dollars in support of Blanche Lincoln.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Job_Security

Republican affiliations

* Political Solutions<14>, "founded to help ensure Republican candidates, free enterprise PACs and conservative causes achieve success."<15>

* Public Opinion Strategies, a self-described "Republican polling firm", which "used mall intercept testing" in "issue campaign experience on behalf of" AJS "and others".<16>

* Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm media consulting firm; as are the National Republican Congressional Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, several individual Republican members of Congress, and a lengthy list of Republican-affiliated organizations and front groups. Heading the list, however, is the only "National 527" Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth.<17>

* Convicted 2002 New Hampshire phone-jammer Charles McGee, vice president of political and corporate communications at Spectrum Monthly & Printing Inc., and former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party.<18>

[nichomachus]

16. All of those who were so giddy

that we wouldn't have a WH press secretary who tap-danced around issues and instead would have one who was open and transparent, please line up to be bitch-slapped.

[Laelth]

32. That comment needs a thread of its own. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[kath]

33. +10

[bvar22]

17. "people who cared about an agenda that benefited working families"

That would include neither Blanche Lincoln nor the White House.

[chill_wind]

28. Gibbs transcript from today. It's at the end.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/press-briefing-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-6910

[kath]

34. "everybody that supported one of the Democrats will have an obligation to...now support the Dem

-ocratic nominee".

Just like Obama (and all the Dems) supported Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in 2006.
Oh. Wait.

[kath]

35. Kick

so that everyone can be grateful that we know longer have a press secretary who tap-dances around issues, like W's used to.

Yeah. Right.