At first glance, this week's program seemed like your every Sunday, usual Meet The Press, but in actuality, this week was one of the more enlightening weeks, and it all points back to the Presidency of Barack Obama.
Today's program started with the antithesis of the President, and that is Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. Governor Christie is what we would call a bull in a bull shop. Even though he occupies a room full of like minded animals, political animals, he still manages to stand out, knocking things and lesser bulls over at every turn. This is why so many find Mr. Christie an attractive Presidential candidate because he's willing to make a few small messes along the way to solving a bigger problem. To be clear, that's a commentary on his methodology, and not about the agenda behind it.
But it's the methodology that needs to be examined in terms of what President Obama is not doing. As the head of a state, you can afford to be more hands on, which was the tact of the criticism that Mr. Christie leveled against the President, that he hasn't been involved enough in these budget deals. "He needs to lead and bring the legislature to the table," paraphrasing Mr. Christie. David Brooks later described the President as the 'convener in chief,' as Mr. Obama searches for consensus on issues, but having surrogates in his stead, not personally being there.
It's an unfair criticism because unlike Governor Christie, President Obama has 49 other states to consider, and he does have the Vice President conducting the meetings. If you take the above criticisms of the President to heart, then it's actually better if Joe Biden is leading in this instance. Mr. Christie said he is a straight talker and that's what people respect, whether they agree with it or not, and in this instance it's better to ride with Mr. Biden's reputation. And we do mean this to be constructive criticism for the President.
In this column back in April (April 23rd, Take A Stand - http://meetthepressopinion.blogspot.com/2011/04/42311.html), we featured a clip of President Obama speaking at a fund raiser in a tone that more reflects the style that Mr. Christie spoke about. The public responds to this tone and Mr. Obama should employ it more, as President he is granted the bully pulpit - the title of biggest bull in the bull shop. Mr. Christie, for his efforts, has bad timing. When a constitute asks you why you don't send your kids to public school, and he retorts that it's none of her business, you can answer that with much better tact that doesn't come off defensive, which is a big negative. Leave it at - it's a private decision that my wife and I made. And it is amusing that Mr. Christie in one of his answers to Mr. Gregory said that when negotiating he doesn't demagogue the other side, no... just throw insults at them, which is what he does.
With regard to Governor Christie's policies, he's an east coast Republican, who represents a more moderate brand of the party where the Iowa Caucus is a loser, shown by the fact that Michelle Bachmann is now running neck in neck with Mitt Romney in the latest poll. Matt Bai and David Brooks, during the panel, made the plea that there are more moderates than people think. Mr. Christie said that New Jersey has civil union, but not same-sex marriage - that's Jersey. Most of the people in New Jersey would say, "Fine, don't call it marriage, but let these people have something. Civil Union, yeah whatever, who cares really? Live and let live." Mr. Christie doesn't seem to have an agenda that strays from that attitude. However, he also said that New Jersey is overtaxed, but comparatively to other states that's not true. New Jersey have the most millionaires per capita of populace in the country, and taxes are high, but have you ever lived in New Jersey? With the exception of town Elizabeth that smells of foul chemicals, it's underrated and the standard of living is quite high. (There, there's your freakin' plug New Jersey.)
But back to the President. Mr. Obama does seem to have a pattern of doing things behind closed doors and then sharing the results once the negotiations or the mission are over instead of debating the issues out in and with the public more. Matt Bai, from the New York Times Magazine, gave a key concise analysis in that when negotiating without public scrutiny, it emboldens everyone's positions in the room, where they may not in fact have public support for that position.
The obvious case in point here is Libya, where by all measure of the media, it seems the Administration didn't consult with anyone before making these decisions, nor did they go to Congress after 60 days of involvement in line with the War Powers act. Senator Reed (D-RI) said as much during today's interview. Not what we expected from this Administration, but then again blame on this can only go so far as Congress recently voted against the President's actions but then voted to keep the funding going, which just proves that they can't make a decision.
Senator Webb said that the Administration went to the UN Security Council and they voted for the action, but Russian, China, and Germany we among the ones who abstained from the vote. But as we said before, Libya is a case of the good and bad that go along with treaties, namely the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. With that said, this column's opinion on ground troops is that they are not an option because what that leads to is some sort of permanent presence there, which is unjustified.
In Afghanistan, Senator Reed said that he felt the level and pace of the troop withdrawal was appropriate and something he supports. Senator Webb seemed to indicate that he wanted a faster withdrawal but wasn't definitive. With 99,000 troops in country at this moment, by this time next year, a third will be withdrawn. We would have liked to have seen at least half by next September, but if we're to acquiesce to the Administration's number, then there needs to be more public debate on how the political process in Afghanistan is shaping up - there needs to be a clear diplomatic plan in place along with the withdrawal.
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One more thing - What we found worrisome was a comment made by Senator Webb, he said that by being over-engaged in Middle East affairs, we're "approaching a Munich moment with China." Honestly, we're not sure what that means exactly. '72 Munich? We'll get back to you on that one, but it didn't sound good. Unless he's referring to China gearing up its military for action with Taiwan, which could be truly catastrophic for America.
Round Table - BBC's Katty Kay, The New York Times Magazine's Matt Bai, and New York Times Columnist David Brooks.
Presidential Politics Update: Katty Kay said that Sarah Palin's position looks less strong for a Presidential run, so here's our quick take on Ms. Palin. If she enters the race at all, it will be late in the game, but that will be too late. It will cause the media storm that she'll want, but ultimately no nomination. And that's if it even gets to that, and we think that it won't. Sarah Palin will not run for President. Right now she's back in Alaska trying to figure out a way of staying relevant without having to do the heavy lifting of campaigning, let's not even presume governing at this point. She'll keep testing the waters, but Michelle Bachmann has taken all of Ms. Palin's thunder, filed down those Mama Grizzly claws a bit so we're predicting she's not in.
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