October 17, 2011

What They Are Saying

Obamas Debt End Bus Tour Is A Narrowly Targeted Exercise In 2012 Politics
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Obama Embarks On A Campaign-Style Bus Tour. President Barack Obama will seek to tap into public anger at Wall Street excess to turn up the heat on congressional Republicans as he embarks on a campaignstyle bus tour on Monday to rally support for his stalled jobs package. (Matt Spetalnick, Obama Jobs Roadshow Seeks To Tap
Anti-Wall St Anger, Reuters, 10/17/11)

Reuters: While Obama's aides insist his journey is about jobs, not politics, his itinerary takes in two traditionally conservative states he won in the 2008 presidential election but which polls show he is in danger of losing in his bid for a second term. (Matt Spetalnick, Obama Jobs Roadshow Seeks To Tap Anti-Wall St Anger,
Reuters, 10/17/11)

Bus Trip Is A Narrowly Targeted Exercise In 2012 Politics. President Barack Obamas summer Midwestern bus trek was about reconnecting with disaffected independents, but the North Carolina and Virginia road trip that starts Monday is a more narrowly targeted exercise in 2012 politics. (Glenn Thrush, The
Obama Bus Trip: A Political Guide, Politico, 10/17/11)

Literally Traces An Escape Route For Obamas Reelection Campaign The three-day bus tour, with stops in rural towns, suburbs and several cities, literally traces an escape route for Obamas reelection campaign through two states he carried in 2008 that are must-wins next year even if Obama succeeds in recapturing lost ground in more traditional battlegrounds like Ohio and Florida.
(Glenn Thrush, The Obama Bus Trip: A Political Guide, Politico, 10/17/11)

The Associated Press: The two-state swing, which kicks off Monday in Asheville, N.C., is Obama's latest attempt to combine campaigning for his jobs bill with campaigning for his re-election. (Julie Pace, Obama Seeks
Action On Jobs Bill Pieces This Week, The Associated Press, 10/17/11)

The Associated Press: While he has pledged to travel the country pitching his plans to get Americans back to work, his stops have focused heavily on political swing states, underscoring the degree to which what happens with the economy is tied to Obama's re-election prospects. (Julie Pace,
Obama Seeks Action On Jobs Bill Pieces This Week, The Associated Press, 10/17/11)

Aides On Sunday Deflected Questions About Whether The Trip Was More About Politics Than Policy. (Lesley Clark and Tim Funk, Obama To Tour N.C., Virginia To Campaign For Action On Jobs, McClatchy Newspapers, 10/16/11) CNN: While the two states are key battlegrounds in the presidential race, the trip is an official trip, and no part of it is paid for by the re-election campaign, Earnest said. He rejected suggestions of a political motive for the choice of states, saying the president has been traveling across the country to make the case for his plan. (Obama Goes On The Road To Promote Jobs, CNN, 10/17/11) The Charlotte Observer: Obama's latest foray into the state is yet another sign of how key North Carolina
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is to his re-election strategy. (Lesley Clark and Tim Funk, Obama In North Carolina To Press For Jobs Plan, The Charlotte Observer, 10/16/11) The Washington Posts The Fix: North Carolina and Virginia loom large for Obamas reelection campaign.
(Aaron Blake, North Carolina And Virginia Loom Large For Obamas Reelection Campaign, The Washington Posts The Fix, 10/17/11)

The Washington Posts The Fix: The White House, of course, emphasizes that this is strictly an official trip paid for by the government and focusing on the presidents jobs plan and not campaign politics but the destinations should leave little doubt about what the states mean to Obama, who has made a habit of mixing official business with swing state visits. (Aaron Blake, North Carolina
And Virginia Loom Large For Obamas Reelection Campaign, The Washington Posts The Fix, 10/17/11)

Los Angeles Times: It doesnt seem coincidental that Obama is concentrating on a part of the map that was central to his commanding electoral college victory in 2008. (Peter Nicholas, Obama Gets Back On The Bus To Push Jobs Act, Los
Angeles Times, 10/16/11)

The Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama starts a three-day bus trip Monday through North Carolina and Virginia that brings fresh attention to the kinds of voters he will rely on as he works to assemble a majority next year in the Electoral College. The focus on both regions is meant to give the president multiple routes to victory and to reduce his dependence on Ohio and Florida, the giant electoral prizes that have long defined presidential politics. (Laura Meckler and Carol E. Lee, Obama Targeting A Few Crucial States, The Wall
Street Journal, 10/17/11)

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