As published for Red County on May 26th, 2010:
Tomorrow, President Obama will have his first formal, solo press conference since July 22, 2009. By my calculation, that means the champion of transparency and openness in government will have gone 309 days (more than 44 weeks) without going toe to toe with the White House press corps. As someone who spent more than 7 years working on media relations for President George W. Bush in the White House and on his campaign staff, I can assure you reporters will come loaded for bear and have many pent up questions for President Obama.
Because President Obama has been stiffing the White House press corps for so long, press secretary Robert Gibbs and his staff have their work cut out for them in helping their boss prepare for tomorrow’s press conference. While I’m sure the Obama press office staff has been compiling potential press conference topics for weeks (if not months) and reporters likely have notebooks full of questions they had hoped to ask the president over the last 10 months, I thought I’d offer a few suggestions of my own in order to help both sides get the most out of this rare occasion. In a normal presidential press conference, 15 to 20 questions would be asked and answered in 45 to 75 minutes. Because President Obama tends to give very long answers to questions (some town hall answers have run more than 10 minutes), I’ve prepared just 10 questions for the Fourth Estate to consider employing at tomorrow’s press conference:
1. Mr. President, since it has been more than 10 months since your last solo press conference, can you tell us why you’ve been avoiding us? Are you afraid of the scrutiny from a free press? What message does this send to countries like China or Russia, both nations which we continually urge to create greater press freedoms?
2. At the signing of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act on May 18, you invited the pool of reporters into the Oval Office to watch you sign the bill, but you refused to answer any questions. Were you trying to be ironic?
3. About a month ago, historic floods ravaged Nashville and other parts of Tennessee. The waters caused more than a billion dollars in damage and killed more than 30 Americans. Have you ever considered visiting the state to see the damage for yourself and to console the victims of this disaster? If yes, what prevented you from going? If no, don’t you think they deserve your attention?
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As published for The Arena on Politico.com on May 12th, 2010:
With respect to Andrew Sullivan, I wasn’t aware that he actually had any credibility left – journalistic or otherwise. He has so marginalized himself with his philosophical shifts and mean-spirited screeds that I don’t know a single person who takes him seriously.
Isn’t it time we got beyond identity politics? Isn’t that the sort thing the Obama victory was supposed to retire? We can lay blame with lawmakers who still seek to divide people into groups based on race, sexual orientation, religion or other characteristics. However, I think the news media also shares responsibility for the constant focus on these issues.
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As published for The Arena on politico.com on April 6th, 2010:
How does publicly foreswearing the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states – even those potentially developing sophisticated biological, chemical or even devastating cyber attack capabilities – make the United States any safer? Even if we never intend to use nuclear weapons against these countries for any reason, why delineate for our enemies the punishment they will not receive for attacking America?
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As published for The Daily Caller on MArch 24th, 2010:
In just over 220 days, voters will have their voices heard. For the second time in just six years, Americans may decide to change control of Congress. In a replay of 1994, they may do so because of an overreach by Democrats on the issue of health care.
Can Republicans come back from the political wilderness they found themselves in after the 2006 “thumpin’“? Yes, they can.
On Monday, longtime political prognosticator Stuart Rothenberg said “let’s be clear about what is developing: Obama and the Democratic Congressional leadership have dug themselves into a deep and dangerous political hole, and the only question right now seems to be the severity of the drubbing.”
Republicans shouldn’t be overconfident, however. In this season of March Madness, big leads have a funny way of evaporating. Beginning in the first moments after Nancy Pelosi marshaled just 85 percent of her caucus to ram through the massive health care plan, President Obama and other Democrats began claiming they were acting on the will of the people—completely disregarding the fact that poll after poll shows a solid majority of Americans firmly opposed to the ObamaCare plan. Democrats are busy trying to improve voters’ dim view of the new law by highlighting the popularly supported portions of the plan. In the last few days, the rhetoric of the Democrats has been laser-focused on the ban on denying coverage for preexisting conditions and the provision allowing adults up to age 26 to stay on the insurance plan of their parents. They’ve even falsely claimed their plan will provide tax relief, ignoring the fact that the $569 billion in new tax increases—including $52 billion in new taxes on employers—will create a devastating burden on the weakened economy.
With willing accomplices in the mainstream media who’ll happily help turn the Democrats’ biggest political blunder into a supposed victory, Republicans must be ready with a winning and compelling message.
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As published for The Arena on politico.com on March 23rd, 2010:
Before readers accept the often repeated “hands-off approach” myth, is important to remember the situation President Bush inherited. The second intifada began in the fall of 2000 and was raging when President Bush was sworn into office.
President Bush called Yasser Arafat for what he was – a failed leader and an obstacle to peace who was not committed to fighting terror.
In his first 18 months in office (on June 24, 2002), President Bush called for the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel. He established the Roadmap in 2003, something the Obama Administration originally called for the parties to adhere to.
It’s also worth noting that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pulled out of Gaza and allowed Palestinians to run it. Hamas won the election not because of their ideology, but because of the dissatisfaction with Arafat’s party.
President Bush led the way to bring the parties together for real talks, which included Arab neighbors, at the Annapolis Conference in 2007 and Secretary of State Rice traveled to the region regularly in the second term.
President Bush didn’t need to have photo ops announcing a special envoy in the Oval Office. Rather than “proximity talks,” he got parties to talk to each other in the same room.
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