Posted on 06/22/2012 7:54:53 AM PDT by Qbert
President Obama will look to cap a week in which momentum in the presidential race appeared to shift in his favor with a Friday address to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) in Florida.
Obama will speak to the group one week after his surprising decision to halt deportations of illegal immigrants brought to the nation as children, a move that caught opponent Mitt Romney flat-footed, forcing him to play defense all week on the issue.
The immigration move came after Obama had endured several politically brutal weeks that bottomed out with his comments earlier this month that the private sector was “doing fine” — a gaffe Republicans are still using to their advantage with an ongoing ad campaign. But over the last week, an embattled Obama seemed to find his footing.
Besides the deportation decision, an announcement Wednesday to claim executive privilege over documents sought by House Republicans in their battle with Attorney General Eric Holder also seemed to unify Democrats and energize Obama’s base.
Like the deportation story, the fight over Holder shifted the topic from the economy, something GOP strategist Karl Rove said could play into the White House’s hands.
It also inserted the president more directly into a battle with the Republican House, which Obama hopes to tie to Romney.
“It did shift attention from the economy and put Obama out front on the immigration issue, something that potentially could have huge electoral consequences,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
Both moves also showed off the advantage Obama has because of his incumbency.
Martin Sweet, a visiting assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University, said Obama is doing a bit of “muscle-flexing” and using the so-called bully pulpit to his advantage, first with the deportation decision and then with Wednesday’s executive-privilege move on the Fast and Furious controversy.
“What you’re seeing is the power of the presidency on full display,” Sweet said. “He can set the agenda in a way that a challenger cannot.
“I think that’s what you’re going to see more of, and he will be able to show a challenger as weak."
Republicans say Obama is simply trying to shift the story from the struggling economy, and Kirsten Kukowski, a press secretary at the Republican National Committee, disagreed with the notion that Obama has had a successful week.
Kukowski said Team Obama has tried to “distract” the electorate with both the deportation and Fast and Furious moves because “they don’t want to talk about the No. 1 issue that is on everyone’s minds.
“It’s very short-sighted to think that’s the issue that’s going to win the Hispanics for them,” she said. “Our message is in line with what Hispanics care about, the economy.”
In his own address to NALEO on Thursday, Romney attempted to turn the tables on Obama. The GOP nominee accused Obama of failing to show leadership on Hispanic issues and implementing the deportation order to secure votes from a much-needed constituency.
“For two years, this president had huge majorities in the House and Senate; he was free to pursue any policy he pleased,” Romney said. “But he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. Nothing.
“Instead, he failed to act until facing a tough reelection and trying to secure your vote,” Romney added.
In the coming months, Republicans say Romney will continue to emphasize that Obama hasn’t done much to improve the lives of Hispanic voters. They point to the high Hispanic unemployment rate, which they say is three points higher than the national average.
The economy, Sweet said, “is Obama’s Achilles' heel, and to the extent that he can pivot away from that, that’s all to his advantage.”
That won’t be easy in the next few weeks, beginning with the next monthly jobs report, due two weeks from Friday, on July 6.
Zelizer added that the deportation decision isn’t a slam-dunk for Obama.
“There is still a lot of skepticism within the immigrant community about what Obama has done since taking office,” Zelizer said. “And the issue is incredibly polarizing within both parties — with some Democrats rather conservative on this issue and many Republicans energized by this … So this issue can easily cut both ways for the president.”
Still, the week ends with several new polls from Bloomberg, The Associated Press and the Pew Research Center showing Obama with a lead over Romney.
The deportation decision has also polled well with voters and given him an instant boost with Hispanics, who could make the difference in the swing states of Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Virginia.
At the White House on Thursday, press secretary Jay Carney sought to capitalize on Obama’s deportation decision and go on offense. He underlined the president’s support for immigration issues, including the DREAM Act, and insisted that Romney had an opposing view on the matter.
“Look, we have a situation where the nominee of the Republican Party, the head of that party at this point, has said he would veto the DREAM Act,” Carney told reporters.
Vicissitudes in the presidential campaign are expected by both sides, but Obama supporters cast Obama’s last two moves as swift, bold decisions that helped the president shake off a rough couple of weeks.
“Those two decisions served as the ultimate reminder to a sometimes skittish establishment,” said a former senior administration official. “When the president takes strong, decisive action, it moves things back into his favor."
That’s not to say Team Obama doesn’t think there will be more turns in a presidential race both sides expect to stay tight.
The senior administration official warned, “We’ll catch a break for a little while, but things will be a constant ebb and flow.”
Huuu, Obama’s got momentus but it sure isn’t in the direction the author thinks it is.
Talk about delusional.
Holder contempt charge voted out of committee
Bambi claims Exec. Priv. and the MSM has to finally cover the Criminal-Murderous plot to flood the streets with weapons and kill Mexican and Americans.
Stock Market is free falling
Yeah baby he has momentum alright. I hope he is wearing a paracute cause that momentum is gonna hurt when it meets terra-firma.
Post EO polls from Rasmussen showed Mitt lead increasing and voter intensity against Obama at -22 (strong supporter minus strong opposition). EO pissed off white Dem blue collar even more. Right now 65 percent of white voters oppose Obama. If minority support for Obama is the same as 2008, this shift in white voters will allow Mitt to win. Obama has no choice but to appease to Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, Gays and Jews.
Someone needs to tell Amie to step away from the mushroom.
Obuggery has momentum and it is downward.
Obuggery has momentum and it is downward.
Obama”care” is the Death Knell for the United States of America.
The USA Federal Government is broke, and is forced to borrow 3 1/2 BILLION dollars from our grandchildren EVERY DAY!
This then is the Federal Grandchildren Tax, or FGT, separate from the FIT or Federal Income Tax that only 51 % of us pay.
2012 is the third year of the American Taxpayer Revolt, in spite of what our sorry politicians and apathetic Liberal Agenda Media try to tell us.
The Silent Majority is silent no more.
If Romney is elected he has promised to “keep the best parts” of Obama”care” and send it back to each of the 50 States, resulting in the Death Knell of each of the 50 States that choose to keep the Obama”care” Death Knell.
Right now there is a 50-50 chance that Obama will get re-elected.
No matter that Obama was the worst Federal Financial Steward EVER!
If Obama gets re-elected he will just declare, by Executive Order, that Obama”care” is legal, and thus the demise of America will be accomplished during his Reign of Obamanation.
If THE NINE SUPREMES knock down ANY part of Obama”care,” then Senate Minority Leader Son-of-a-Mitch McConnell and Esteemed Sobber-of-the-House Boehner will rush to replace the Court-damaged parts of America’s Death Knell.
The only possible positive outcome will be to ABOLISH FOREVER Obama”care.”
America cannot afford to continue Federal programs to buy votes with debt that we charge to our Grandchildren.
BTW, it is all very simple as illustrated by the words of Paul Harvey: “ WHEN YOUR OUTGO EXCEEDS YOUR INCOME, YOUR UPKEEP WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL.”
Momentum. You can feel it.
"Talk about delusional..."
Yep. The media's cherry picking off one bizarre poll from Bloomberg this week that supposedly showed a thirteen point lead for Obama over Romney, an almost 70% approval for his decision to violate immigration laws (at a time in which we are effectively in a recession), and an overwhelming belief that many people are "better off than they were four years ago" (!!) under Obama.
The poll distorted the RCP average numbers... and next thing ya know, voila, Obama's in the "lead". And then they trot out the usual suspects- the Associated Press poll- to "back" the notion that Obama has this big momentum. All coming from his "game changing" immigration decision... which has only been "supported" by the same bogus Bloomberg poll. Meanwhile in the real world...
"It really should be about the issues, not who appears to be most popular at the moment. But then again, that's the only thing they have I guess."
They have no intention of covering the issues, of course- in fact, I think we'll be hearing a lot more about heat waves, Octomoms, and the Jerry Sandusky trial, etc. from the MSM in the upcoming months... anything to distract people from Obozo's sinking presidency.
Jay Carney yesterday was claiming that the low poll numbers for Congress are a result of the Congressional investigation into "Fast and Furious."
Evidently, the press corp is now openly laughing when Jay Carney talks about the invoking of executive privilege being about ‘principle’. The thick-as-thieves Obama-butt-kissing press corp is laughing? I don’t think that is a good sign for the Obama regime ....
I love how they couched the momentum with phrases like “appears to have”, etc. Hilarious.
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