By Carol E. Lee
VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. – The president left for vacation in August, and the opposition pounced. Critics accused him of evading the problems in Washington, and taking cover with a family getaway during “the dog days of summer.”
President Barack Obama is greeted at the Cape Cod Coast Guard Station in Bourne, Mass., Thursday. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
In a twist that shows how partisan criticism of a president’s vacation is an annual Washington ritual, Mr. Earnest is the president’s lead defender against Republican critics who say Mr. Obama should not be vacationing on this elite island during tough economic times.
“The president understands that he has important responsibilities to fill, and it’s his job to fill those responsibilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” Mr. Earnest said when asked about the criticism by reporters flying with the president Thursday to Martha’s Vineyard.
“At the same, he’s also a husband and a father,” Mr. Earnest said. “And I don’t think the American people begrudge the president spending a little time with his wife and daughters, at the end of the summer, before his daughters head back to school.”
For Mr. Bush, the summer of 2005 was plagued with a CIA-leak scandal that enveloped his chief adviser, Karl Rove. Those were the “legitimate questions dogging the president” that Mr. Earnest referenced in a DNC comment to the Washington Post.
For Mr. Obama, it’s the economy – and a presidential election that’s beginning to heat up. The Republican National Committee issued a statement Thursday saying Mr. Obama’s ”high-class vacation during difficult economic times is a perfect example of an out of touch president.”
Mr. Earnest stressed that the president will remain engaged on economic issues. He’ll be preparing his post-Labor Day speech on jobs and the deficit. Next week, Brian Deese, the deputy director of the National Economic Council, will travel to Martha’s Vineyard “to provide regular updates and briefings for the president,” Mr. Earnest said.
“Over the course of his time in Martha’s Vineyard, he will be getting updates from his economic team,” Mr. Earnest said, adding that John Brennan, the chief counterterrorism adviser, will be on the island for the entire vacation.
But the president’s time on the island is mostly about getting some down time.
“This is an opportunity for the president to spend a little time away from the spotlight with his wife and two daughters, an opportunity for him to play golf, a hobby that he enjoys,” Mr. Earnest said. “It is also an opportunity for him to do some of the other things you have seen him do, go out and get ice cream and ride bicycles.”
One thing Mr. Obama will not do, Mr. Earnest said, is attend a DNC fund-raiser taking place on Martha’s Vineyard Thursday night.
Related
No comments:
Post a Comment