Posted on 05/18/2011 3:58:53 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama sent a message to Trump By Sam Youngman - 05/18/11 06:06 AM ET
Donald Trump was probably never really going to run for president.
And President Obama’s epic smackdown of The Donald probably didn’t scare Trump away from the race as much as the idea of releasing his financial records did.
But through Trump, Obama sent two powerful messages: This is a game for grown-ups, and Obama’s patience for the silliness of some Republicans only goes so far.
White House officials draw little distinction between Trump and other fringe candidates such as former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) or Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), but it seems clear Trump touched a nerve with Obama.
Obama, like many of his predecessors, has a thin skin when it comes to amateurs questioning his administration. At the White House correspondents dinner, while Obama was whipping the crowd into laughter at Trump’s expense, there was a steely edge to the president’s voice.
Watch it again. Obama is chuckling, but his stare could cut glass.
It is easy to forget sometimes, with high unemployment and the constant criticism from Republicans, that Obama is a master political pugilist.
He’s the same man who outdueled and outlasted Hillary Clinton and the establishment Democratic Party. He is battle-tested, hardened and, most damaging to his opponents, presidential.
The race for the presidency, despite all its quirks and entertainment, is a game for adults. That’s what Obama wants to remind voters every day.
Budget fights, terrorist threats and seemingly endless energy crises and natural disasters — the constant life-and-death drumbeat is what makes presidents hard to beat. It’s also what makes them testy when also-rans come calling with silly issues and attention-grabbing claims.
And it takes one act of presidential decisiveness, in this case taking out Osama bin Laden, to remind everyone that the stakes are high and the presidency is not a reality show.
“In this instance I think the timing of [Osama bin Laden’s killing] played a large role in that it reminded the media that their obsession with Trump was ridiculous,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who is also a columnist for The Hill.
White House officials concede privately that they have no idea what the 2012 race will look like and are under no illusions about how tough the general election will be. They know the country is nearly evenly divided, and that no matter which Republican crawls out of what is sure to be an entertaining primary season, the candidate will start out at close to 50 percent.
Trump was an easy target, and in some ways the White House might end up missing The Donald, whose entry into the race helped Obama by making his other erstwhile challengers seem small.
And some of those left in the field are off to stumbling starts.
Less than a week into his candidacy, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) came under attack on Monday for his criticism of the House GOP budget, specifically its proposed reforms to Medicare. Gingrich said it was a radical change and described the reforms as “right-wing social engineering.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) fired back that with “allies like that, who needs the left?” A day later, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he would reserve judgment on whether Gingrich was finished.
The Republican infighting on Medicare is reassuring to an administration that feels it is back on its feet.
Don’t look for the president to focus his guns on other primary candidates the way he did Trump. That would make it too easy for his opponents, and Obama and his team are happy to watch the field eat itself.
Sue Dvorsky, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the rest of the GOP field was “given a free ride” while Trump sucked up media oxygen. Now they will find the spotlight even brighter.
Whoever does emerge to take on Obama will receive the same lessons Trump did: Obama is a fierce campaigner, and the nation’s grown-up-in-chief has little patience for sideshows.
The man running for another four years in the White House is no joke. If Republicans want to win, there had better not be any confusion about whether their candidate is. Otherwise, as he has done before, Obama will have the last laugh.
Obammie the Commie’s message to Trump:
“Don’t you understand that facts and truth mean nothing to us? Not only will we lie, cheat, and steal, we will forge any paperwork necessary to remain all-powerful.”
Obama sent two powerful messages: This is a game for grown-ups
What Barack Obama means is: "I am the grown-up who knows better and should tell you juveniles how to behave."
As one FR commenter analyzed, the Party of Projection.
Many of us were always aware of his mental sickness, but not enough.
Johnny Suntrade
I hate it when someone blows obama in print. Get a room author!
LLS
Where’s the barf alert from this bootlicker?
That might be a deterent to most, but Trump or his businesses probably get auditted every year. Trump is a publicity-whore. Once he got a BC out of Obama the game was over. It simply stopped being fun & profittable.
Trump didn’t really understand the eligibility issues anyway.
I had to check. I thought I was reading satire, for a moment.
Reality? Sheesh!
Weong color diaper—it should be red.
Correct!
He is a common thug like Al Capone. And he will do anything to cling to the White House.
“Weong”=”Wrong”. Oops.
White House officials draw little distinction between Trump and other fringe candidates such as former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) or Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), but it seems clear Trump touched a nerve with Obama.
WOW! Fringe candidates?? Santorum a former Senator and Bachmann a current elected official
How could you get anymore fringe them Obama? A unknown community organiser with no experience, and a hidden history? Obama and the elites think we are all stupid. Time to clean them all out........
I believe that how the President treated Trump was how he planned to treat the Republican front runner. The issue of his birth certificate was strung along so that it could be part of a “got-ya” ploy. Such a powerful smack down was worth the millions in court cases until it could be used.
THANKFULLY, it wasn’t used against the real Republican candidate and we should be grateful to Trump for tripping this trap so soon into the election cycle.
However, Obama will use it to paint the Republicans as nut cases anyhow. It just won’t be as convincing as it would have been if Trump hadn’t called him on it so early.
Obama had the media in his corner backing him every step of the way. Without their cover and the race card he couldn’t pull off the fraud and in-your-face corruption he’s gotten away with so far. I say bravo to Mr. Trump for taking the POS on. He boxed him in by making him release a digital doctored BC. When the truth comes out, he’s finished.
It’s getting to be like a day without another act of journalistic fellatio is like a day without sunshine.
Brack has burned so many bridges with moves like the Ryan speech that the real issue is isolation for Brack and his thin skin. If you want to pop his balloon, light him up. Which Republican candidate would have the stones to push the buttons?
Hey, you elected a Marxist/Stalinist dictator to be POTUS. We’re living in some kind of alternate universe. So what else is new?
Media protection goes a long way to make Obama look like the perfect politician. Remove the swooning press coverage and let him compete on a level press playing field and then see if he’s still a political genius.
Grown-ups ... and marionettes.
Palin. She presumably doesn't have any, but she's the clearest thinker and straightest shooter of the bunch. I'd love to see her skewer this Marxist/Stalinist Impostor-In-Chief.
Deeply. Deeply disappointed in Trump.
I highly doubt he has done even his show any good by hoodwinking so many of us.
Actually I think Trump ...punked the birthers and many republicans.
How to put the BC issue to bed without needing to go to court...
TRUMP.
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