Even MSNBC Analysts Pan Obama Economy Speech as 'Unbelievably Diffuse' and 'Ineffective'
Minutes after President Barack Obama finished speaking about the economy on Thursday afternoon, two analysts for the “forward-leaning” MSNBC cable news channel criticized the 54-minute speech by saying that it “didn't work” and he “lost his audience by the end.”
MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall began the segment by asking liberal columnist Jonathan Alter what he thought of the president's address. Unfortunately for Hall, her usually reliably Democratic guests began panning the speech. Video and commentary below the fold.
“I thought this, honestly, was one of the least successful speeches I've seen Barack Obama give in several years,” he stated, in part because it was “long-winded.”
He had a good argument to make, and at the beginning of the speech, he seemed to be making it in a fairly compelling way, but then he lost his thread, and this speech was way too long, and I think he lost his audience by the end.
Hall defended the 54-minute speech, which was delivered in the Democratic stronghold of Cleveland, as the first time Obama “clumped” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with the GOP members of Congress.
Daily Beast columnist and economist Zachary Karabell said the address was very effective “in describing a position that his opponents hold that he and many of the Democrats believe will manifestly not work.”
But after praising part of the president's speech, Karabell noted that Obama “went sort of away from offense onto defense.” At that point, the address “became unbelievably diffuse” as he characterized his opponents as promoting ideas that will not work, but he “didn't really give you the sense of what will.”
Hall again defended the president because he had criticized the policies “that resulted in the disaster that we saw with this economy, and his point was that's exactly what the person who wants to take my job now will do. That's what you can bet on.”
Alter noted that while the host had raised a good point, he stated that “it didn't work in 2010, but it can work, properly framed, in 2012, for the president.”
Obama needs to take the section of the speech that dealt with “how you create jobs, how you move the country forward,” Alter stated. “He has to turn this into the 'how' election, but he didn't quite nail that point.”
The MSNBC host then indicated that Obama “said how we move forward, at least in his estimation, is by not going back to the same policies of the previous administration, and he laid the burden on the voter by saying if you want this deal, you can have the deal with Mister Romney and his allies .”
“And that part was fairly convincing,” Alter responded, “but what didn't work was when he said you the voter can break the stalemate.”
Everybody knows that if Obama wins and there's still a Republican Congress, we'll have more stalemate. But this competing vision idea, that these are two starkly different ideas about how we create jobs and how we move forward as a country. This is the “how” election, and if anything comes of this, it should be that. I don't think he quite nailed that point.
Of course, there is no “Republican Congress” since the GOP only controls the House of Representatives while the Democrats are in charge of the Senate.
Hall noted that the president “issued up the challenge to the press and others in asking Mitt Romney, Governor Romney, how he would do it, how he would reduce the deficit, how he would pay for tax cuts that are all but sure.”
Karabell replied that as a result of the speech, Democrats should tell people:
Look, if you are worried about the deficit, and you are worried about the spending, and you are worried about the future of our country, what Mitt Romney is proposing, what Eric Cantor is proposing, what the Republicans are proposing will actually make that concern much worse.
The economist said that Democrats should come together on the issues most party members agree on. “That's a much more effective tack than what's been taken to date.”
He concluded that the Democratic message “simply has to come together in a much more tight, much more forceful fashion.”
It's interesting to note that no one in the segment even mentioned the speech on the economy delivered at about the same time by Romney in heavily Republican Cincinnati, as well as the fact that both addresses were made in the battleground state of Ohio.
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Comments
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Submitted by johnsonl on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:20am.
Just think, we have more than four months of this sickening desperation to go until the hammer falls. I'm betting that there will be riots started by Occupy protesters over the summer to be followed by Obamao's attempt to postpone the election "for security reasons".
It is going to be fun watching the liberals circle the drain. It is their death knell and they know it. I will feast on their tears.
Problem is
Submitted by texusmc on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:39am.
our current White House "Occupier" is going to pull this fast one to bolster swing votes. Not to mention a lot of voter fraud may- what the h*** am i saying, WILL come about.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_IMMIGRATION?SITE=AP&SECT...
I am just praying many of our good Americans see through this tactic and antic
The Current Presidential Administration...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:20am.
...has been horrid over the last three and a half years. This November I am voting for anyone but George W. Bush....
Haha, that's clever
Submitted by dzejk113 on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 3:42pm.
I like it
My modest proposal
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:22am.
The next time our leader gives a speech like this, I wish He would start it exactly like this:
He has someone on stage with Him who has been very successful. Say, a millionaire.
He should begin His speech "My fellow Americans" and then immediately turn to said guest. With the cameras rolling, the mikes on, the audience and everyone looking on, His face should take on a look of extreme rage and anger, and He should put both of His hands around the guests throat, killing him/her with His bare hands. No one intervenes, everyone calmly looking on. When He is finished, and it is clear that the guest is dead, He resumes His speech, declaring that the wealthy are less than human and that what He just did is the future of all wealthy, successful people.
Sound extreme? I don't think so. He can't give a speech without attacking successful people. His party has always attacked success and wishes to criminalize it, and has wanted to do so for at least as long as I have been alive. And the sad thing is that there are a lot of envious, resentful people who will think that's a great idea!
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Failed policies
Submitted by Name on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:30am.
These idiotic progs keep trying to push that,"failed policies of the last administration" scam. How is it so difficult for the Republicans to remind that same audience of sheep that the economy was cooking along at historically low unemployment and interest rates before the Dems took over congress in 06? Failed policies of the last 6 years is more like it.
Alter is just now realizing
Submitted by inquiringmind on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:35am.
Alter is just now realizing that Obama's speeches are long winded?!? That is only because he used to hang on Obama's every word when he thought Obama was the One.
Now that he has realized the Annointed One is just a human he can see and hear what we have known all along. All of Obama's thoughts are scattered and without the teleprompter he can't put together a clear and consistent message.
Other than blame Bush and it's not my fault.
LOL. Way to break little Tamron's heart, fellas.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:39am.
She probably had to take the rest of the day off.
Indeed name, indeed
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:45am.
I have been hammering that point home for a year or so.
Remember that jobless recovery the media whores talked about way back when?
The unemployment rate for a 6 year period averaged 5 percent or so which some economists consider about 100 percent filled.
Then after the media hammered the jobless recovey, the Dems took over and what happened after that?
2007-2008 or so?
The whole speech in 10 seconds or less
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:47am.
Failed policies of the past decade....worse than we knew.... I inherited....making some progress but need more time..
He could just mouth those phrases and leave everyone to fill the rest in, because they've heard it all before.
Or.....Barack the Parrot
Submitted by Blonde on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:36am.
Second verse, same as the first.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
John Jacob
Submitted by texusmc on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:57am.
Jingleheimerschmidt...oh wait ...that wasnt the lead in?
How are ya Ms. Blonde?
Good, good
Submitted by Blonde on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:16am.
Working on the gaffe list....200 by election day.
A happy coincidence of the list is that I usually have the link to something idiotic that Baraka has said or done right at my fingertips, that matches almost every story of liberal media bias here!!!
You?
[Edit: I hear the Herman's Hermits w/ "2nd Verse"]
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Aiming too low
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:21am.
As the speeches increase and the campaign stops go on...I think you might have 200 gaffes before the convention!
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Doing well
Submitted by texusmc on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:55am.
staying busy with work. Drafting/Designing is a good in demand type of profession. (Hey Occupy- check out Devry and ITT Tech!)
yeah I have been looking at your growing list. and that is just our Gaffer in Chief. I dont think they have enough server space for the Vice Gaffer.
MB: Well…
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:07am.
Well give him a break… It’s hard to speak intelligently on a subject when you have no experience or concept of how the thing works.
Then again, Bambi has perfected the “self-aggrandizing speech.” The tone and subject is always the same: “It’s about me.” - Only the various props and venues change.
- Grump :o)
Please let me fool you twice
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:26am.
If you don't, my thousands of press secretaries will call you names.
But, look on the bright side............
Submitted by almostacowboy on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:48am.
Only 6 more months of the first muslim to be elected president.
Correction
Submitted by texusmc on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:58am.
the first GAY (and I am not talking happy) Muslim to be elected.
Isn't that what happens
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:51am.
Don't you normally lose your audience when you blame someone else for the issues and positions that you campaigned and spent $750 million to inherit?
Especially when the policies and specific actions that you put in place after you inherited the situation that you pleaded with the American public to allow you to inherit, have made the matters significantly worse and you refuse to try a different approach but just want to try even more of the same stuff that isn't working.
They tried that back in the day when barbers were also healthcare professionals. They would bleed people to get out all the bad stuff that had accumulated in their blood. If it didn't work they would try it again and again until the patient died from what later came to be called pernicious anemia.
That's what is happening now. The country is being bled out in order to try and "help" it. We need to stop the bleeding and let the country heal itself. It will. The economy exists inspite of the government, not because of it.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
C5Then: Excellent!
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:15am.
Super analogy about the “pernicious anemia” there… wow!
- Grump :o)
That part about fair shots is just plain silly
Submitted by StarAZ on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:40pm.
He can't make all things equal--give everyone a "fair" shot, whatever that means-- any more than a certain tiny mayor can keep people from drinking a big soda pop.
'Unbelievably Diffuse' and 'Ineffective'
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 2:31pm.
'Unbelievably Diffuse' and 'Ineffective'
That sounds just like his leadership abilities!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
A lib over at the Washington Compost asked these questions
Submitted by IdahoJim on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 3:12pm.
He wanted Republicans to answer, but not conservatives. What a shrub.
1. Is unemployment high?
Yes. The democrats failed stimulus is more to blame then anything. Add to that the increasing number of regulations that make hiring anybody a costly exercise. Plus the increased chance that with more regulation comes more chance of an employee turning around and suing the employer.
2. Are corporations making record profits and sitting on huge amounts of capital?
Yes and no. record profits yes. But they are not sitting on capital, they have that money invested in banks, other companies, small business loans (through the banks), stocks, bonds, etc. That capital is out there working, not sitting as a pile of cash in a warehouse.
The contention is that these companies should be using this capital to hire people. But companies have as many people as they need to generate these record profits, what would new employees contribute? Nothing. Companies that do not need new employees don't start hiring because they have a glut of cash. Companies hire employees to do work that brings in more money than the employee costs in pay and benefits. These are productive employees. The only thing hiring non-productive would take these folks off unemployment rolls, shifting the burden from the government to the private sector.
Think of an employee as an investment made by the company. Hiring for the sake of hiring is a really poor investment.
3. Do wealthy people have the lowest taxes in the last 30 years?
Again, this yahoo thinks that rich people are sitting on piles of cash. They are not. They have that money invested in the economy. The more they make, the more they have to invest. As I've written before, millionairs do not built mansions: Carpenters, electricians, cement layers, and a whole host of people up and down the construction business build those manions and the millionaires pay them to do so. How's that for putting money into the community? On top of that, mansions need more upkeep so money continues to flow from that mansion to businesses and individuals in the local economy. The more they make, the more they have to spend to keep up with their lifestyle.
4. Is the middle class losing income each year?
Because of the Democrats open hostility towards capitalism. Companies are unsure which direction the Dumbocrats are going to go next, so they are very careful with their investments. Remember, an employee is an investment.
To me, the drop in middle class income is a function of the damn liberals lowering the level of income considered to be middle class. The easy way to pronounce that the middle class income is falling is to take those who were in the middle class and promote them to "rich" status.
5. Has trickle down economics failed?
"Trickle down economics" is a insult cooked up by liberals that is their definition of capitalism. Better to ask "Does capitalism work?" of course, the answer is "Every time it is tried". We have not had real capitalism in the country since FDR. With capitalism, companies invest in employees who then work hard to make money for their company, taking their pay and benefits home to their families. When they get home, they buy stuff, sure that companies they buy from will make a profit to stay in business and pay their employees. When those employees go home, the cycle continues.
I choose to believe that money is blood. If it does not circulate, the body dies. If money does not flow throught the system, the economy dies. Think of liberals as the blood clots in a living system.
IdahoJim
http://idahoandy.net
More of the same
Submitted by Scott @ Engage ... on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:16pm.
The CBO reported that that if laws remain unchanged the federal budget deficit for this year will be $1.1 trillion (http://1.usa.gov/xju6K9). Do we really want to get further into debt by spending taxpayer money on failed policy?
Sorry, but the video clip was way too long. Trying to watch
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 5:42pm.
stupified Leftist commentators for more than a few seconds is hard on my blood pressure.