In the minutes prior to President Obama's Tuesday press conference,
Meet the Press host David Gregory could barely contain his glee as he
proclaimed those in the White House, "feel pretty good about how this
Republican race is going for the President's reelection prospects, and there's nothing like being the president when the other guys are off fighting."
Gregory added that Obama, "can stand up and say, 'I'm actually dealing with the big issues,' and
sort of frame the debate when everybody will be watching."
Correspondent Savannah Guthrie similarly chimed in: "...it has been
corrosive on the Republican Party as a brand to go through this
difficult nominating process....Anytime the president is appearing
presidential, doing the work of the presidency, they like that contrast
with what's happening in the Republican primary."
Guthrie's declaration was prompted by Nightly News anchor Brian Williams observing: "...poll numbers yesterday showed there's been some damage to the GOP brand, as everyone suspected. It has caused, you know, some erosion in how people feel about the Republican Party during this long, drawn-out campaign."
Following the press conference, Williams remarked: "...this was the
advantage of not being engaged in this exhausting GOP campaign, the
incumbent gets to sit back and take it in."
Guthrie enthusiastically gushed: "And did you notice at the beginning
when the President was kind of ticking off where we stood in terms of
the economy? He said, "Confidence is up." And perhaps the same could be
said for this president."
Noting how much of the presser focused on foreign policy, particularly
the possibility of war with Iran, Guthrie concluded: "At some points, he
almost seemed to be talking to the Republican candidates. He said,
'There's been loose talk of war, folks popping off.' He barely concealed
his contempt for some of the things we've been hearing on the
Republican campaign trail."
Here is a portion of the March 6 coverage:
1:00PM ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Good day. No cause for alarm, I know you're not usually
used to seeing us at this time of day, but we're coming on the air
because we're expecting the President to begin a news conference from
the West Wing briefing room in about 15 minutes. And in lieu of your
usual programming at this hour, we thought we would set the stakes, look
at all of the issues before us today, before we hear from him.
The back-drop, of course, politically in a domestic sense in this
country this is Super Tuesday. 11 States, 424 delegates, folks voting in
a lot of places. And some competitive states, some not so competitive
states. But as big a contest in one day added up as we've had all
political year thus far for the GOP. A big competitive state, and a big
prize in this, of course tonight, one of the ones we'll be watching is
Ohio. Another is Tennessee. And finally Georgia, though we have a native
son in the Georgia race, and that is state resident, long-time
congressman and speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. So, again, a lot of
math at stake tonight.
Joined here in our studio, to cover all matters, by our chief foreign
correspondent Richard Engel and two veteran White House correspondents
on either side of me, Savannah Guthrie and the moderator of Meet the
Press, David Gregory. David, we'll start with you. The President has
this right to put out his own message in the middle of a big voting day
for the GOP.
DAVID GREGORY: "Oh yeah, I'm still the president," I think that's the
subtext of this press conference today. We're told he's going to talk
about the economy, particularly housing, which is a huge issue. We can't
really have full economic recovery if the housing market doesn't
rebound. The President wants to talk about that. There's so much to
discuss in foreign affairs, and Richard Engel is here.
But I do think the political back-drop is so interesting, Brian. It was
just a couple of weeks ago the President was talking about him being an
underdog. Well, now you hear in the last couple of weeks he's talking
about the fact that he's got five more years in office. They feel pretty
good about how this Republican race is going for the President's
reelection prospects, and there's nothing like being the president when
the other guys are off fighting. You can stand up and say, "I'm actually
dealing with the big issues," and sort of frame the debate when
everybody will be watching.
WILLIAMS: And Savannah, Chuck Todd's poll numbers yesterday showed
there's been some damage to the GOP brand, as everyone suspected. It has
caused, you know, some erosion in how people feel about the Republican
Party during this long, drawn-out campaign.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: I think the word our pollsters used was, it has been
corrosive on the Republican Party as a brand to go through this
difficult nominating process. At the same time, the poll number that I
know the White House watches more closely than any other, the right
track/wrong track, where we're starting to see people say in greater
numbers that they feel the country is not on the wrong track. The trend,
the trajectory is better than it's been in recent memory in this
presidency. And I think David hit the point, in terms of this news
conference. While White House officials will tell you, "No, no we didn't
do this to counter-program against Super Tuesday," the fact of the
matter is, they don't mind the contrast. Anytime the president is
appearing presidential, doing the work of the presidency, they like that
contrast with what's happening in the Republican primary.
(...)
WILLIAMS: A wide-ranging question and answer session from the West Wing
briefing room. From international, which dominated, to domestic
politics and more. And I'm joined by our team here in the studio. And
Savannah Guthrie, we were saying during it, this was the advantage of
not being engaged in this exhausting GOP campaign, the incumbent gets to
sit back and take it in.
GUTHRIE: And did you notice at the beginning when the President was
kind of ticking off where we stood in terms of the economy? He said,
"Confidence is up." And perhaps the same could be said for this
president. It's clear, just in the way he's approaching these questions,
how he feels about where things stand for him politically.
There were so many questions about international issues, and yet, they
had a distinct domestic political flavor. At some points, he almost
seemed to be talking to the Republican candidates. He said, "There's
been loose talk of war, folks popping off." He barely concealed his
contempt for some of the things we've been hearing on the Republican
campaign trail.
(...)
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [1] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.