Prior to this week, President Obama had been so detached from the budget debate that some in his own party have openly criticized him. Obama, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin declared in early March, has “failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for.”
Yet when the President chose to parachute into the budget talks earlier this week, most of the mainstream media neglected to remember his long absence, but instead acted like White House stenographers in praising his “adult” and “grown-up” approach — conveying the obvious implication that House Republicans and/or the Tea Party have been acting like children.
A video compilation of some of the more noteworthy these comments appears below the fold; a link to audio of remarks by CBS’s Chip Reid, CNN’s Gloria Borger and CNN’s Eliot Spitzer, all from April 5, is here.
CHIP REID (CBS Evening News, April 5): The President said he’ll call congressional leaders back here to the White House every day this week if they can’t reach a deal on their own. One thing the White House is hoping to do is have the President appear like an adult breaking up a childish battle.
CNN’s GLORIA BORGER (CNN Newsroom, April 5): Politically, what he’s trying to do is to be the grown up....
ELIOT SPITZER (CNN's In the Arena, April 5): Every parent knows that voice. That was the president's version of, hey, kids, you don't really want me to pull this car over, now do you?
CNN’s GLORIA BORGER (CNN Newsroom, April 5): [The White House decided] that it was time for the President to come out and sort of be the adult and say, look, there are things we can control in this world and there are things we can’t control in this world, much like you would talk to your kids, and say, OK, this is one of the things that we can control, so let’s just get it done.
— Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
