Does Altmire Stand By His 2008 Quote?
Does Altmire Stand By His 2008 Quote?
“The more people get to know [Obama], the more they like him.” (Washington Post, 4/13/2008)
Good Afternoon,
In a change of events, Rep. Jason Altmire attended today’s presidential arrival in Pittsburgh and greeted Barack Obama at the airport, which was first reported via Twitter by Tim McNulty at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Early Returns blog. After Altmire first confirmed that he would skip Obama’s visit, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faced questions on ABC’s “This Week” about whether she’s advising vulnerable Democrats to campaign with the president:
“The president would be well received by any one of our members into their districts. … [T]he consensus in our caucus that we’re very proud of his coming forth with a jobs bill, with his speaking out about why it’s important to the American people. His reelection is very important to the country. … [H]e’s been a great president. And our members are very proud of him. And I think any one of us would love to have the president as a guest in our districts.” (Mike Allen, Politico’s Playbook, 10/9/11)
As you cover the president’s trip to Pittsburgh, consider the following questions for Rep. Altmire, as well as the comment from the NRCC.
1. Did Nancy Pelosi, her staff or other Democrat officials contact your office and suggest that you should flip-flop?
2. Or, did you change course and appear with the president because of other political pressure? (Hint: Maybe from the other side of the aisle….)
3. Did you greet President Obama because you consider him to be an asset on the campaign trail in 2012? (As more people have been able to get to know him over the last couple years….)
NRCC Comment: “It seems like Rep. Altmire didn’t learn his lesson after supporting the first failed stimulus. As the president travels the country to sell his stimulus 2.0, Altmire continues to embrace President Obama’s policies of more government, reckless spending and higher taxes, even though we all know that sequels are almost always worse than the first.” – Tory Mazzola, NRCC Spokesman
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SHOT: “Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, plans to greet the president at Pittsburgh International Airport and then catch a flight to Washington. . . . Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire of McCandless and Mark Critz of Johnstown plan to stay in Washington.”
CHASER: “A Quinnipiac poll released Sept. 28 showed 54 percent of Pennsylvania voters disapproved of Obama’s job performance.” (Mike Wereschagin and Salena Zito, “Obama’s Pittsburgh Job Visit Not Big Draw,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/7/2011)
NRCC Comment: “If Democratic Reps. Altmire and Critz cared more about creating jobs and less about their re-election campaigns, they would use this opportunity to talk with the President about the problems facing Western Pennsylvania’s economy. They may have avoided a photo-op now, but Barack Obama will still be at the top of the ticket in Pennsylvania, and that’s a problem that will cost them their jobs in 2012.” – Tory Mazzola, NRCC Spokesman
Read the full Pittsburgh Tribune-Review piece here.
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