Campaign News

Obama Campaign Braces For This Month's Jobs Report Presidential campaign coverage was relatively light last night and this morning. Of the three networks, only the CBS Evening News devoted a segment to the general election. However, Fox News' Special Report opened its broadcast with a segment indicating that the Obama campaign expects Friday's jobs numbers to be relatively weak. According to Ed Henry, "Top advisors to the President privately admit they are bracing for...the monthly jobs report for May," with "one top advisor noting to Fox, 'the stakes are raised on each one of these reports coming out between now and November' since a string of negative numbers could tee up Gov. Romney's case that he is 'Mr. Fixit.'" Henry added, "The signals ahead of Friday's job report are bad in terms of long-term unemployment."
USA Today also reports that the government's job reports coming Friday and next month could have large impact on the November elections "as voters firm up their opinions of the economy during the summer, say economists on both sides of the political spectrum." USA Today adds, "In Washington, economists who work closely with politicians believe job-growth numbers drive elections, absent a foreign-policy crisis."
On the CBS Evening News, John Dickerson noted that Ohio's unemployment rate is "7.4%, a little below the national rate of 8.1%," but, according to Dickerson, "a recent poll of Ohio voters shows those who think the economy's getting better credit the Republican governor, not President Obama." Dickerson added that in Florida, "the picture is not as good on the economy for the President," because "the unemployment rate is 8.7%...and the state's still reeling from the housing crisis."
Obama Congratulates Romney On Securing GOP Nomination President Obama's call to Mitt Romney to congratulate him on clinching the GOP nomination, meanwhile, was the subject of a scattering of brief print and online items, and was mentioned by the CBS Evening News, which reported, that the President "picked up the phone and called his rival" to "congratulate him." The AP says the President called Romney "just as the Democrat's campaign opened a new critique of Romney by focusing attention on his economic record as governor of Massachusetts." The AP notes that Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said the president told Romney that he "looked forward to an important and healthy debate about America's future," while the Romney campaign described the call as "brief and cordial."
ABC/WPost Poll: Romney Cut Favorability Deficit By 10% In A Month The Washington Post reports, "Republican women are rallying to Mitt Romney...boosting him to his best-ever showing on a fundamental measure of personal popularity, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll " that found "41 percent of all Americans express positive views of Romney; 52 percent do so for Obama." The Post notes that "just over a month ago, the president's advantage on this score was 56 percent to 35 percent." The Post adds that 80% of Republican women "now have favorable views of" Romney, which is "up from 59 percent last month."
Romney's Favorability Up 13, Obama's Down Seven Among Women According to a Politico post on the Washington Post-ABC News poll , "All Romney's gains have come among women -- up by 13 percentage points in personal popularity from last month, while Obama's lost 7 points among women. (Views among men have been more stable.) Obama's rating among women, 51 percent favorable, still beats Romney's 40 percent - but again that margin is far smaller than what it was six weeks ago."

Poll Shows Walker Leading Barrett 52%-45% In Wisconsin Recall Race Wisconsin Politics reported that a Marquette University Law School poll of 600 likely voters taken May 23-26 shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) leading Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) 52%-45% in the June 5 recall election. The poll "also found Walker's job approval rating at 51-45 and his favorable-unfavorable split at 51-46. Barrett's favorable-unfavorable split was upside down at 41-46."
Politico reports that according to the poll, "voters say they feel their current governor would be better at creating jobs than his recall challenger. Half say they think Walker would do a better job, while just 43 percent pick Barrett. And Walker holds a 51 percent favorable rating and 46 percent unfavorable, while his rival is at 41 percent favorable and 46 percent unfavorable."
Obama Campaign Official Says Recall Outcome Won't Impact President's 2012 Prospects Politico reported on its website, "The Obama campaign is bracing for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to survive his recall election next week, denying that a victory means anything for President Obama's chances in the fall. 'This is a gubernatorial race with a guy who was recalled and a challenger trying to get him out of office,' Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said on MSNBC Wednesday. 'It has nothing to do with President Obama at the top of the ticket.' Asked whether the recall showdown means anything for the November general election, Cutter told host Chuck Todd, 'No, I don't think so.'"
Schultz Pleads With Obama To Campaign For Barrett In Wisconsin Ed Schultz, on MSNBC's The Ed Show, said, "National Democrats are finally showing up" in Wisconsin to campaign for Tom Barrett, but President Obama "is planning not to go." Schultz continued, "There is no doubt that there is a huge political calculation being made right now by the Obama team not to send the President to Wisconsin," but "I think he needs to get there," and "fire up the troops even more." Schultz added, "Mr. President, please go to Wisconsin."

"For The First Time," Warren Says She Told Schools She Was Native American The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D) "acknowledged for the first time late Wednesday night that she told Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania that she was Native American, but she continued to insist that race played no role in her recruitment." Warren, in a statement, said, "At some point after I was hired by them, I . . . provided that information to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. My Native American heritage is part of who I am, I'm proud of it and I have been open about it."
Cherokees Challenge Warren's Claim Of Native American Heritage Politico reports that some 150 people claiming to be members and descendants of three Cherokee tribes have launched a website called "Cherokees Demand Truth From Elizabeth Warren," challenging the Massachusetts Senate candidate's "claims to Native American heritage." The group is demanding that Warren "come clean about her heritage – a topic that has dominated media coverage of Warren's bid" to unseat Sen. Scott Brown (R) "ever since it was revealed that the Harvard law professor was previously listed as having ethnic minority status."

Washington News

With Options Limited, US Hopes Russia Will Pressure Assad To End Violence The ongoing conflict in Syria continues to receive significant media attention -- nearly eleven and a half minutes of network airtime last night up from eight minutes and forty seconds the previous night -- with reports increasingly analyzing US options to stop the violence. NBC Nightly News, for example, opened its broadcast last night reporting, "With the situation inside Syria tumbling out of control and growing fears of an all-out civil war, the Obama Administration today moved to tighten the economic screws on the Assad government while casting doubt on the prospect of a negotiated peace. How far can and will the US go to end the violence? Tonight at least one option, arming the rebels, has been taken off the table."
In a front page analysis, the New York Times reports that "after ordering American forces to Libya last year, President Obama declared that he had tackled a humanitarian crisis more decisively than his predecessors," but with the crisis in Syria now more than a year long, Obama "shows no signs of intervening with force." The Times adds that "if the president considered Libya a model of humanitarian intervention, Syria increasingly looks like Mr. Obama's Bosnia."
Several reports suggest that the Administration is counting on Russia to press the Assad regime. Christiane Amanpour, on ABC World News, said the US is "finding itself maybe having to aid the rebels with military aid and perhaps even respond to calls for air strikes. It's their least favorite option. They don't want to get involved. There's no question there will be boots on the ground, but right now, they're hoping the ceasefire will work and they're hoping Russia will do something, but it doesn't look likely."
On the CBS Evening News, Norah O'Donnell said, "The White House opposes arming the opposition because the opposition is not unified and because they believe there are some parts of the opposition that are not friendly to the United States or a peaceful transition." So, "the President has directly engaged the Russians on the issue...and they still hope Russia can play a constructive role, but the last time the President spoke with a Russian leader was at Camp David, the G-8 meetings, and that was two weeks ago."
Similarly, Andrew Mitchell said on NBC Nightly News, "White House officials say that the President is not considering military action and still hopes he can change Vladimir Putin's mind about Syria when the two men meet at a summit next month."
AFP reports Russia "insisted Wednesday that new action" against Syria "would be premature" and "insisted that the weekend's rebuke" by the UN Security Council "went far enough." The Washington Post reports that the Administration "joined UN diplomats Wednesday in condemning yet another massacre of Syrian civilians, while also acknowledging deepening pessimism for ending the violence as prospects for a diplomatic solution appeared blocked both at the United Nations and in Syria." The Times adds that "several senior US officials, in separate comments, acknowledged that the UN deployment of monitors had failed to deter government attacks on civilians."
The New York Times notes that US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice "suggested Wednesday that with little hope left for a political settlement, the conflict in Syria appeared likely to develop into a regional sectarian war." Rice's assessment, says the Times, "appeared to reflect a new level of pessimism about a diplomatic solution to the Syria crisis."
Rogers Opposes Arming Syrian Insurgents In a statement that puts him at odds with Mitt Romney, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that he "opposes arming insurgents in Syria," The Hill reports. Rogers said, "I'm not sure arming is the right answer here, mainly because of we're just not exactly sure who the bad guys are, who the good guys are, so you don't know who you're giving weapons to." Romney "called for the United States and partner nations to 'arm the opposition so they can defend themselves' against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad."

Obama Signs Export-Import Bank Reauthorization During a signing ceremony on Wednesday, President Obama inked bill extending the Export-Import Bank through 2014. Most of the print reports this morning note that the President used the signing ceremony as an opportunity to push his campaign message of strengthening the middle class and to push Congress to pass his "to-do list" of economic measures.
The New York Times reports that the President said reauthorization of the bank was "crucial to leveling the playing field with China and other countries, which provide similar credit to their export industries." Obama said, "We're helping thousands of businesses sell more of their products and services overseas...and in the process, we're helping them create jobs here at home. And we're doing it at no extra cost to the taxpayer." The Times adds that the President "paid tribute to Congressional leaders who brokered the deal to preserve the bank, which was in jeopardy after Tea Party-aligned conservatives in the House and Senate seized on the need for reauthorization as a chance to mothball an agency they say is a purveyor of welfare to big corporations like Boeing and Caterpillar."
The Washington Post reports on its website that the President tied the reauthorization "to his campaign message of building a stronger middle class." Obama "used the signing ceremony to reiterate his economic message, saying that as companies sell more goods abroad they will be able to create more jobs, preferably in the United States." The Post notes that the President also "pushed Congress to support his so-called 'to-do list,'" which includes "tax breaks for companies that return jobs from overseas, a job bank for military veterans and low-interest loans for homeowners seeking to refinance."
The Wall Street Journal also notes that the President used the signing ceremony to urge Congress to pass more of his economic agenda, saying the nation "shouldn't have to wait until an election to do some of this business."
The Washington Times notes that Republicans "quickly accused the president of hypocrisy, pointing out that he had called the bank 'little more than a fund for corporate welfare' during the 2008 campaign and promised to eliminate it. They also reminded voters that despite Mr. Obama's longtime disdain for corporate jets and corporate jet owners, the bill includes $1 billion in subsidies for jet manufacturers, which have experienced a steep decline in demand in recent years."

Obama Hosting Bush For White House Portrait Unveiling Ben Feller, in a piece for the AP , says President Obama "can't seem to stop bad-mouthing the record of former President George W. Bush," but "on Thursday, Obama is going to welcome his predecessor and proudly preside as Bush's image and legacy are enshrined at the White House forever." Feller reports that the President and the First Lady "will join Bush and his wife, Laura, as their official portraits are unveiled," which will be "a rare limelight moment for Bush."
Similarly, McClatchy says the President has made Bush "a foil for more than three years, the man he blames for the 'mess' he inherited of an economy in free fall and wars gone astray." McClatchy adds, "The visit comes after years of Obama criticisms of the Bush record and policies and as Obama has amped up his campaign trail criticism of...Romney, in part by portraying [Romney] as an unwelcome return to the Bush years."
The Hill reports that when asked if the meeting might be awkward, White House press secretary Jay Carney relied, "Not at all, I know the president looks forward to it."