July 24, 2012

"President Obama's newest campaign commercial was filmed inside the West Wing of the White House..."

"... an act that campaign finance experts and good government groups generally agreed was legal if not particularly commendable."
Staffers for President George W. Bush say they expressly avoided filming campaign ads within the West Wing itself....

Previous presidents saw no such lines. When President Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996 he was featured in the Oval Office... President Ronald Reagan's 1984 convention documentary featured the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room....

In 1976, President Gerald Ford was filmed working with his top advisers in the Oval Office itself and speaking directly to camera in an interview with a tell-tale curving wall behind him....

Four years later, President Jimmy Carter was filmed in the Oval Office for a reelection ad....
So what's the big deal? Must a President live up to the George Bush standard? That's awfully rigorous!

33 comments:

Bob Ellison said...

The "West Wing itself"? I've heard the expression and think it's associated with an HBO show. Is that how I'm supposed to relate to this story?

KCFleming said...

More likely filmed in the Left Wing.

Original Mike said...

"Must a President live up to the George Bush standard?"

It's always good to strive for the unatainable.

Michael K said...

You're being very unfair to expect Obama to meet Bush's standards.

Wince said...

Still, Obama will find a way to blame Bush.

Anonymous said...

No one can touch us. We are invincible. We have support from NPR, NYT, PBS, CNN, etc. So, what if GOP has problem with our commercials. All voters love us. We are loved by every group. Thus, we win.

Curious George said...

I think it's a good thing. Now we have photographic evidence of what's missing after this grifter is gone next January.

wyo sis said...

Standards? We don need no frickin standards. You didn't build those standards, someone else did that.

KCFleming said...

It must have been one of the half dozen days he showed up at work.

Bet he didn't bother taking off his golf shoes.

virgil xenophon said...

@Curious George/

Only this time they'll find that extra letter O's were added to the keyboards rather than W's removed..

shiloh said...

Laughable post aside, if they "lived up" to the Bush standard, they could never attend their party's convention again lol.

ok, ok, I'm sure it was a mutual agreement. :-P

AndyN said...

In the ad released before this (which looks like it may have been filmed from a different angle in the same room) he looks straight into the camera and tells the most transparent, easily disprovable lie he could possibly tell. After that are we really expected to believe that he'll live up to an honorable man's standard of propriety?

Holmes said...

We really just have to get the money out of politics. Unless it's my side's money, which is pure as the driven snow.

elkh1 said...

At last, he is out of Bush-did-it shadow!

Carnifex said...

It's not going to matter. I was just cruising Drudge and these headlines caught my eye..."We tried our plan...and it worked" "still trying to explain 'you didn't build that' comment" "CAMPAIGN OPERATIVE: Does Romney even know how our economy works?"

Contrary to AP's tongue in cheekiness, I see a man flailing as he drowns in his utter failure to do even 1 thing positive for this country.

Let me walk that last statement back...He was President when Osama was killed. So he wasn't a total Zero as a president.

That last headline is a knee slapper. For a O'bot to claim this is hutszpa I can respect. Laugh at, but I'll give him credit for going full retard, like Tug Speedwell in "Simple Jack".

Okay, the gremlins are messin' with me. My wv is "owsInc"

edutcher said...

"Hey, respect me, I really am the President - even if I don't act like it".

Incompetence and opacity take a toll.

Unknown said...

For a O'bot to claim this is hutszpa I can respect.

I laughed.

Unknown said...

It must have been one of the half dozen days he showed up at work.

Pogo is crying again. Someone get Pogo a box of tissues, please.

A year ago (August 2011), the vacation data looked like this:

"So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings. And Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch.

Among recent presidents, Bill Clinton took the least time off -- 28 days."

Does that cheer you up Pogo?

The Crack Emcee said...

Must a President live up to the George Bush standard?

BWAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA! Oh man, that's good.

machine said...

"the George Bush standard"

Funniest thing I've heard in a while...

Didn't he install a political office down the hall to formulate policy?

IOKIYAR

Christopher in MA said...

Carnifex - it's spelled chutzpah. Not that I'm Jewish, but in my writing, I deal with a lot of Yiddish idioms, so FYI.

And I see that Jake is back. Now with more trolling. GO ahead and tell us, Jake, that when Bush was away from the White House, it was a vacation; when Obama leaves, he always has staff to keep him in the loop.

Oh, BTW, ever come up with that proof that Obama's views on free trade are identical to Bush or Reagan or Clinton or Kennedy? Or is it too soon and I should check back later?

BWAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA! Oh, man, that's good.

This, from someone who thinks the Mormon conspiracy is the reason his eggs were overcooked this morning.

Christopher in MA said...

And speaking of the George Bush standard, Politico notes:

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he's losing patience over the Republican attacks aimed at his "you didn't build that" comment.

"I have to tell you, I generally have patience with what the other side says about me, that's a requirement of this job," Obama said during a $5000-per-plate fundraiser here, according to the pool report.

"And if you don't like folks talking about you, you probably shouldn't run for president. The one thing I do have no patience for is this argument that somehow what I'm criticizing is success. . .I want to promote success," Obama said.


Poor Little Black Jesus. People just can't help saying mean things about him. Perhaps some of our resident trolls can point out examples of Dubya behaving like such a thin-skinned whiny little titty-baby.

Unknown said...

@Christopher-
Are you crying about Obama's vacations too? You must have blubbered nonstop through the Bush years then.

ever come up with that proof that Obama's views on free trade are identical to Bush or Reagan or Clinton or Kennedy?

Identical? I never said anything like that. Why would you spin what I said into something so obviously ridiculous? Is this another example where you create a "believable fiction" and treat it as fact?

Or is it too soon and I should check back later?

Check back as often as you like. Or, as I suggested yesterday, you can get a life.

Mitch H. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
cubanbob said...

Carnifex said...

Saying Obama was president when Bin Laden was killed is like saying Nixon was president when Armstrong landed on the moon. Technically true but both instances were the result of the work done by prior presidents. At least Nixon had the class not to take credit for the moon landing. Obama unfortunately will never have the class that Nixon had.

AP: you are getting week. You can and have done better in the past.

"And if you don't like folks talking about you, you probably shouldn't run for president. The one thing I do have no patience for is this argument that somehow what I'm criticizing is success. . .I want to promote success," Obama said." Yes be successful so I can tax the crap out of you and demonize you in the process. After all I need your money to finance my peeps. Obama and the democrats are such a target rich environment that using the oval office as a stage prop doesn't even enter the target list.

Jack has it occurred to you that Reagan and Bush went to their homes on the 'vacations' and actually worked? Must be a stretch for you. Clinton had a reason not to leave the WH, where else could he get his BJ's?

Unknown said...

Jack has it occurred to you that Reagan and Bush went to their homes on the 'vacations' and actually worked?

Spin, spin, spin.

Christopher in MA said...

My, we are snarky, aren't we, sugar tits? I don't care how many vacations your crackhead messiah takes. Frankly, the more he's on the golf course, the better for the country. But it is funny watching clowns like you defend Obama's vacations after all the caterwauling about Bush being at Crawford. Sort of how we were told endlessly that Club Gitmo was an horrible stain upon our national honor when Dubya was president, but somehow it's become the new normal with Little Black Jesus.

And regarding the free market, let's go to the tape. Here's what you said at 9.05am yesterday, addressing Jay:

If you believe Obama has substantially different views on the free market system from his predecessors of the last 50 years, tell me what he's said and done that distingushes him.

So, no, to weasel out of it, you didn't say "identical." You stipulated "substantially different." A distinction without a difference. But you never did answer - even after being asked several times by several posters - how you came to the conclusion Obama's views were not substantially different, a query you never answered, apparently the mere statement constituting irrefutable proof in your mind.

In short, you're proving yourself a slightly more coherent garage mahal. If that's your goal in life, don't let me stop you.

cubanbob said...

Jake Diamond said...
Jack has it occurred to you that Reagan and Bush went to their homes on the 'vacations' and actually worked?

Spin, spin, spin.

7/25/12 9:32 AM

Fact, fact, fact. Martha's Vineyard, Hawaii and endless golfing on the other hand....
I actually don't mind Obama vacationing, gives him less time to do more harm.

cubanbob said...

Christopher in MA said...

If you are to the right of Joseph Stalin any differences are meaningless to the Stalinists.

Christopher in MA said...

Oh, I know, Cuban. I don't expect any answer from Jake, regardless.

At least Ace Of Spades has funny trolls. Althouse's trolls are funny only in the way that watching a dog with an elizabethan collar trying to lick its nuts is funny.

Unknown said...

But it is funny watching clowns like you defend Obama's vacations after all the caterwauling about Bush being at Crawford.

Is this more of your "believable fiction?" I didn't state approval or disapproval of Obama's vacations. I merely put the extent of his vacation time in recent historical context. As usual, this causes hysteria among the fact-averse.

Unknown said...

you didn't say "identical."

Thank you for admitting your error.

Unknown said...

Jack has it occurred to you that Reagan and Bush went to their homes on the 'vacations' and actually worked?

I think it's really cute that you believe this.

If you're going to insist on referring to me as "Jack," can I pick a name for you?