Barack Obama, The Bully Pulpit And The Republicans
Is Barack Obama a master at using the bully pulpit? Does he have a different bully pulpit than past Presidents? And how are the Republicans doing in competing with him and what are their prospects?
When the conservative Republican Tea Party Tax Day protest drew an estimated 250,000 people at cities throughout the country, the media narrative tea was diluted by a serving of something else abruptly poured into the mix:
Lo and behold, right in the middle of news coverage — the wall-to-wall promo and live feeds on Fox News, which seems to see this as a franchise (can it be turned into a weekly series?) and shocked Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz – guess who appeared in the White House and called in the press? Yes: President Barack Obama appeared on cable TV, smack in the middle of tea party coverage, to remind voters that most Americans got tax cuts under his stimulus plan.
“”Obama aides, who mostly ignored the tea party scene until the tea bags thrown at the White House put the building into lockdown, decided to mark the day by reminding voters that most people have gotten a tax cut because of the economic stimulus bill that passed earlier this year.
“For too long, we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that actually increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams,” Obama said, as the protest raged on outside. “That has to change, and that’s the work that we’ve begun.”
This was hardly an isolated case.
One of the most jolting adjustments Americans are having to make about Obama is that he is using the “bully pulpit” of the Presidency — his office’s aura when he appears, the early 21st century’s key infocommunications tools, the new and mainstream media’s news cycles, plus rapid-response media appearances of key administration officials to answer critic’s charges — in a way that has never been seen before. Other Presidents have used their “bully pulpit” but few as cohesively — and relentlessly — as Obama.
Read it in full for more details about his bully pulpit, past Presidential bully pulpits and the challenge facing Republicans.
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5 Responses to “Barack Obama, The Bully Pulpit And The Republicans”
You ask the question “Does (Obama) have a different bully pulpit than past Presidents?”
The answer is yes.
If the bully pulpit Obama is speaking from is covered by a press that covers up his mistakes, explains what he “meant” to say and praises every syllable as heretofore unheard of brilliance, then yes, the bully pulpit is different.
You marvel at how Obama communicates with “cool” talk while his opponents use “hot” talk. Why not just ask your audience if they are for “Goodness” or “Badness”? The article itself is a parody of the question.
On a related note, Ann Althouse received her 20 millionth visitor while she was making fun of the capacity of The Moderate Voice authors and readers to understand humor:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-rush-li…
Obviously this is a rightwing viewpoint, but apparently Nick Gillespie isn't impressed with Obama's use of the bully pulpit.
At some point don't we have to admit that Obama complaining (as he did during the campaign) about distractions from our real problems means that he too should be held to the same standard?
JWEST: As much as we’d love the credit, I don’t think Ann Althouse’s readers are due to her posts disagreeing with ours. I suspect it’s due to the hard work she has put into her blog over time on many issues. I appreciate you taking the time to comment but instead of turning your comments into the repeated message that we don’t get it you might want to detail specifically why you feel a given post is wrong. Elaborate on how you see Obama using or not using the bully pulpit. Every comment left on a website doesn’t have to be an angry one. Just so you know: I understand how you feel about our site. I get it. You made your pont. Some agree with you, some don’t and we will keep writing and giving readers our take on events and doing it our wa. Other sites have other views and do it another way, and that’s their right as well. If Ann Althouse gets 500 million readers I really think posts about how she disagrees with our perceptions are not the reason why. She spends a LOT more time on other posts and has built her readership over time. So you don’t have to repeat your opinion of this site over and over in every comment. We all get it. You’re entitled to your view and we’re also entitled to kindly suggest that now that we have told you that we get it you make your case for or against what you see in our posts in terms of the issues raised in those posts which will then help generate a genuine dialogue over the issues.
Why is it that ONLY Republicans ever seem to have flaws or face challenges according to this site?
Eventually the massive deficits that the Obama Administration is running up will have to be paid. There is not enough wealth in the top 5% to pay for the current level of government spending, let alone the plan entitlement expansions.
Also, as the Obama Administration pursues a policy of open borders and unlimited immigration, the demand for government spending will increase but the per capita GDP of the U.S. will go down.
What many of those at the Tea Party's inherently understand is that the Obama Administration is promoting an unsustainable U.S. of unlimited immigration, high taxes, high entitlements, and a much smaller private sector.
However, those who are on the left who used to worry about deficits, entitlements, and government pork during the Bush Administration have now abandon their concerns.