Obama in campaign mode on swing-state jobs tour (using taxpayer's money for campaigning)

reuters ^ | 10/18/2011 | Matt Spetalnick

[tobyhill]

President Barack Obama headed deeper into the electoral battlegrounds of the South on Tuesday on a campaign-style bus tour that has underscored the steep challenges he faces to win re-election next year.

The second day of Obama's slow-rolling journey, billed by the White House as part of his nationwide push to get his jobs plan past Republicans in Congress, remained focused on courting voters in politically pivotal North Carolina and Virginia.

Obama is using the road trip not only to test out a sharper, more populist message as he seeks a second term but also to gauge whether the two traditionally conservative states he won in the 2008 election can stay in his column in 2012.

[SMARTY]

He’ll have to re rig his teleprompter system before he can actually ‘campaign’, right?

[mardi59]

How many states does that make now, 56 or 57?

[napscoordinator]

All Presidents campaign on tax payer money. Stop complaining because we are going to have a Republicans President in 2013 and in 2016 he will be campaigning. The last thing we need is to give libs ammo for 2016 when our President goes out and campaigns. That is why I don't like complaining about certain things a Democrat does because some folks act like we will never have another Republican President and that is not true. We will have a Republican President who will go on vacation, golf, campaign, eat out, etc. No more ammo for Democrats!!!! Please. Complain about his horrible policies. That is more beneficial anyway.

[Terry Mross]

One republican in congress, just one....introduce legislation specifically eliminating taxpayer funding for this trip. Just one.....oh, well, guess I’m only dreaming.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Hussein is taking the INTERCONTINENTAL RAILROAD to ALL 57 STATES, meeting with veterans and Navy CORPSEMEN, aksing for their votes.

[Terry Mross]

Media: The republican president is campaigning on the tax payers’ dime.

GOP Response: Obama did it.

Media: That’s irrelevant....we don’t care.

[skeeter]

Disagree with you here. I cannot recall any president (the only one coming close is Clinton) who was more blantant about their misuse of taxpayer money in this manner. The guy is promoting his 'jobs bill' in battleground states only.

And as someone else pointed out, the demoicrats and media will not fail to point it out when a republican does it. Rather than wallow in ignorant media fueled outrage, I'd like non-republicans to at least be aware that their side does it too.

Also I think its important now because of the entire dialogue over mis-use of public funds, which the Obama are all about.