Obama weaves Fast and Furious fight into his re-election narrative

The Hill ^ | 6/20/12 | Amie Parnes

[Libloather]

Obama weaves Fast and Furious fight into his re-election narrative
By Amie Parnes - 06/20/12 08:29 PM ET

President Obama escalated a battle between his administration and the Republican House over Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday in ways that could benefit his reelection campaign.

By asserting executive privilege over “Fast and Furious” documents sought by the House GOP, Obama inserted himself directly into the fight between Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman. He also made it easier to run against not only Mitt Romney, but a Republican House he hopes to portray as divisive and overly extreme.

The move enabled the White House to shift the story surrounding the controversial gun-tracking operation and to scold Republicans — under an increasingly bright public spotlight — for focusing on what the administration dubs a political witch hunt instead of passing federal transportation funding and extending low interest rates on federally backed student loans.

“If you had to find one person who is the most over-the-top in terms of partisanship, you would select Darrell Issa,” said Lanny Davis, who served as a special counsel to President Clinton (and who writes a column for The Hill).

He predicted that the fight against Issa will be “quite helpful” to Obama, who is expected to deliver remarks on Thursday urging Congress to pass legislation that would prevent student loan interest rates from doubling.

“I think Democrats are joyful that he is the face of the party they’re running against,” he said.

Yet the assertion of executive privilege by the White House is also a risk for Obama.

It brings the president closer to the Fast and Furious scandal and directly connects Obama to Holder, seen by some as a controversial figure in the administration. It also allowed Republicans on Wednesday to suggest a deeper cover-up.

“It’s a terrible error,” said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican consultant. “It now links Obama directly to Holder in a way that hasn’t been done so far. The White House up until this point had done a pretty good job of staying away from the Justice Department on this issue.”

Obama is ratcheting the matter up “to a whole new level,” Mackowiak said.

“It’s moving away from just a Washington story to one that will be on the front pages and the network evening newscasts,” he said. “The White House has basically put all their chips on the table and have said, ‘Come and get it.’ ”

Republican strategists and consultants say the move to help Holder is part of a larger plan by Team Obama to move off the message of the struggling economy. They point to Wednesday’s decision and Obama’s aggressive order late last week — to halt deportation of young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally — as proof.

“It really seems as if the Obama campaign and the Obama administration have been flailing for the past three or four weeks, going in multiple directions off message, and they have allowed these issues to mushroom to the point where the public will have to take notice,” said Republican strategist Keith Appell. “People still like President Obama, but if he starts invoking Watergate-era policies that fly in the face [of] his commitment to transparency, and if he starts rewiring the laws on issues like immigration, then that starts to make him look like he’s desperate and in way over his head.”

Running against Congress, Appell continued, is “a severely flawed strategy, because Democrats control half of Congress.”

As the fight between Holder and Issa escalated in recent months, the White House maintained it had done everything possible to accommodate congressional investigators, producing more than 7,600 pages of documents and testifying at 11 hearings on Capitol Hill. The administration argues that Republicans have pursued a fight that is “purely political.”

White House aides, who carefully weighed the risk of injecting Obama into the debate, said Congress should be focused on improving a down economy.

“With millions of Americans still struggling to pay the bills, Republicans announced at the beginning of this year that one of their top priorities was to investigate the administration and damage the president politically,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in an email Wednesday.

“Instead of creating jobs or strengthening the middle class, congressional Republicans are spending time on a politically motivated, taxpayer-funded election-year fishing expedition,” he said.

[Libloather]

“If you had to find one person who is the most over-the-top in terms of partisanship, you would select Darrell Issa,” said Lanny Davis

Hussein didn't even make the list?

[98ZJ USMC]

I don’t see how this could help him, but..... spin away.

[MestaMachine]

THIS is just the beginning of what is bound to be the fastest spin known to man.

[MestaMachine]

You are seeing the CLINTON spin machine in action.

[SatinDoll]

I don’t know whether it is the Clinton spin machine, but this is really risky on BHO2’s part.

Once the MSM get into it, start talking about the issues involved, the chances it will ‘spin’ out of control and damage the Obama compaign escalates.

If this is the result of one of Valerie Jarrett’s brainstorms, BHO2 may get run over by the facts. VJ isn’t as savvy as she presents herself and almost all the wrong political moves these past few months were done at her direction.

[MestaMachine]

This is lanny davis. if it’s lanny davis, it’s clinton to the max. hillary is hip deep in this...from its inception.

[SatinDoll]

You are correct about Lanny Davis being attached at the hip with the Clintons. But Davis is first and foremost a Democratic Party acitivist and though crticizing BHO2 recently, passionately espouses the Progressive line.

I believe Lanny Davis is intent on saving the Democratic Party’s majority status in the Senate this November. The Democrats can be very disciplined in this way, putting aside their personal differences and zeroing in on their target - denying Republicans political advantage.

He plays high-level politics in Washington and has done so for decades. If this means acting as though favorable towards Obama, so be it.

It’s CYA time for the Democratic Party, and all hands on deck!

[ballplayer]

How about Ken Starr,Yeah I know The President OF THE UNITED STATES sending thousands of Guns across the Border to Drug cartel barbarians who KILL the Precious Hispanic Future Democrat Voters is a Partisan Witch Hunt. Lanny Davis is a Lying Puke,Trot out all the Monica Lewinsky Has Beens for More BS.

[Candor7]

The spin MIGHT have worked , but two dead BATF agents and 300+ dead Mexicans,all murdered because of Obama and Holder, do get in the way of the spin. Trying to spin this also makes Obama and Holder appear as the uncaring liberal fascists they are.

Whats a little Mexican genocide between friends, eh? ( The cold, hard core of Obamas fascist principles emerge for all of America to see. We need to expell all of Obama’s operatives from government; Obama and Holder deserve trial and execution for mass murder and perpetrating an act of war on Mexico.)

Good Read on Obama fascism:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html

[trebb]

This Amie chick is on some serious drugs - uses typical Leftist convoluted “reasoning” to explain why F&F is a GOOD thing for Obama-rama-ding-a-ling.

[Venturer]

With women it is the abortion issue, with Mexicans it is immigration.

Not sure that Mexicans dying in Mexico worry those that are here more than worrying about deportation does.

Women do not worry about black genocide in killing their babies. They don’t worry about the pain to the fetus or the fact that it is murder of a growing human being. They just want to get rid of it.
Mexicans don’t care about drug dealers killing each other in Mexico, they just care about staying in the US.

[commonguymd]

The irony is a dilemma.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Libloather.

[ronnie raygun]

My final conclusion as we see his house being set on fire and denial is not just a river in egypt..............mental illness runs deep

[hoosiermama]

mental illness runs deep.
Did you see the thread where the SS collected the forks from those eating dinner at one of his speaches....

How many people have been attacked, hospitalized, murdered with a fork? Now THAT'S crazy!

Ping Lucy!

[jmaroneps37]

Yes his plan is to get the thug street gangsta vote which of course he has already. The only problem is they can't remember whether Election Day is Wednesday or Thursday.

[SeminoleCounty]

“Sure, actively helping the Mexican Drug Cartels is an excellent re-election strategy”, says DNC Re-election Camapaign chair Hal Lucinogen

DNC is clueless

[bcsco]

This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.

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[Travis McGee]

MURDERGATE

To the more than half of America that only half pays attention to the news, "Fast And Furious" is a B-rated Hollywood action movie. It's just not serious.

This scandal will get more traction if we do a little meme-shifting, and call it what it was: MURDERGATE.

When libtards whine and ask why we're calling it Murdergate, just remind them that nobody was murdered at the Watergate. But Nixon was forced to resign, and his A.G. went to prison....over a "3rd rate burglary."

[IMR 4350]

Yep.

You got the Clinton spin machine in action because F&F is a Clinton operation.

F&F is shaping up to be a guns for dope operation, the same thing the Clinton's were doing in the 80’s when he was gov.