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The Campaign Begins
President Obama ended his state of the union address Wednesday by lamenting the state of affairs in Washington, where he said it seems that "every day is Election Day."
"We can't wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side -- a belief that if you lose, I win," he said.
The irony is that the president's entire speech was perceived by some as a campaign speech more than a traditional state of the union message. It seemed tailored for independent voters, with a hodgepodge of policy announcements one might not have expected to hear from a liberal Democrat. Even the reaction inside the august House chamber - occasional hooting and hollering instead of simple applause -- added to that sense.
Now, Obama has embarked on the traditional post-State of the Union road show. But if there was any doubt about the political nature of the president's travels, his early itinerary speaks volumes: a stop Thursday in the ultra-important I-4 corridor of central Florida, and next week a visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire.
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Today, rather than rolling out more details of a small business lending initiative from the West Wing, he's making a short trip to an actual small business inside the other Beltway in Baltimore. Obama is expected to make more such stops in the weeks ahead, as are members of his Cabinet. He's also dipping back into the new media playbook, with a plan to field questions submitted through YouTube next week.
Alluding to the Massachusetts result in Wednesday's speech, Obama said that it's "clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual." Clearly.
