Democrats: While You Were Out, America Called Asking for Leadership

(“March 2011: Photo of Day,” The White House, 3/7/2011)

Dems Fund Raise and Frolic Instead of Leading on Deficit Reduction and the Budget 

Instead of providing leadership, President Obama, Vice President Biden and House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi have kept themselves occupied doing everything except working to prevent the impending government shutdown that is only 10 days away:

OBAMA: PLAYING GOLF AND MAKING BEER:

“The President – who admits to more than a passing fondness for the game – has managed to rack up 60 games since he was elected president in 2008.

“With spring in the air he was spotted back on the course this weekend, at the same time it was revealed he has become the first president to produce White House beer.” (Paul Thompson, “Keeping Busy, Mr. President? Obama Heads Out for his 60^thGame of Golf Since Reaching the White House…As He Also Takes Up Brewing His Own Beer,”The Daily Mail, 3/7/2011)

OBAMA: RAMPING UP A CONTEST TO HAVE OBAMA SPEAK AT A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION:

“The White House is ramping up an effort to promote a nationwide competition to decide which high school wins a commencement speech by President Obama.

“An internal White House memo indicates that the White House is facing a shortage of applications less than a week before the deadline.” (Peter Maer, “White House Memo Notes Shortage of Applicants for Contest to Have Obama To Speak at High School Graduation,” CBS News, 3/8/2011)

OBAMA: VISITING A HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE AUSTRALIAN PM:

“Today, President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to a class of students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. Accompanying the President on the surprise stopover were the Honorable Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.” (“World Leaders Make Surprise Visit to Wakefield High,” Arlington Public Schools, 3/7/2011)

OBAMA: HITTING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN FLORIDA:

“On the same day that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was taking steps to jump-start bipartisan talks to avert a government shutdown, President Barack Obama was in Florida trying to jump-start something else: his 2012 re-election campaign.

“While there may be 609 days to go until the presidential election, Obama has already begun reverting to campaign mode — and some Democrats are starting to worry that their most important ally won’t be there when they need him the most on Capitol Hill.” (Jennifer Bendery, “Fears Grow as Obama Hits Trail,” Roll Call, 3/8/2011)

OBAMA AND PELOSI: RAISING CAMPAIGN CASH FOR HOUSE DEMOCRATS

“The president has made noticeable overtures in the past week to remind people that he is as much the commander in chief as he is a candidate up for re-election: Tonight, Obama is heading a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dinner with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in Boston…” (Jennifer Bendery, “Fears Grow as Obama Hits Trail,” Roll Call, 3/8/2011)

BIDEN: ON A WEEK-LONG TRIP TO EUROPE

“A senior House Democratic aide said Democrats were ‘at least somewhat’ relieved when Obama dispatched Vice President Joseph Biden to meet with Hill leaders last week try to hash out a budget blueprint. But that meeting ended without a breakthrough, and with Biden now on a weeklong trip in Europe, Democrats’ concerns about the lack of White House involvement may intensify.

“‘After these votes fail and with Biden gone, it might re-up,’ the aide said.

“A senior Senate Democratic aide concurred that Biden’s role in last week’s talks helped to allay concerns but said many are watching to see how and to what degree Obama engages over the next two weeks.” (Jennifer Bendery, “Fears Grow as Obama Hits Trail,” Roll Call, 3/8/2011)

The absence of leadership is so great that White House press secretary Jay Carney was unable to identify a single person in Obama administration leading budget negotiations:

QUESTION: “Who on the staff is the point person for these talks?”

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: “I’m not going to specify that. Simply to say that a variety of staff members, senior staff members, have been in conversations with folks on the Hill about this.” (White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Remarks At Press Briefing, Washington, D.C., 3/7/11)

No wonder that even fellow Democrats Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO) both slammed Obama for “fail[ing] to lead” by not offering “a serious proposal for spending and cuts”:

“‘Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations – our president – has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?’…

“‘Respectfully,’ Manchin will say, ‘I am asking President Obama to take this challenge head on and propose a compromise plan for dealing with the our nation’s fiscal challenges.’ …

“Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Monday she was unsure of whether she’d vote for her party’s bill. ‘I feel the cuts are not large enough, but there are some cuts, so I don’t know whether I’ll be for it or against it,’ she said. ‘But I know it doesn’t go as far as we need to go.'” (Jennifer Epstein, “Freshman Democrat Joe Manchin: Obama Has ‘Failed to Lead’ On Budget,” Politico, 3/8/2011)