"Not 'Yes we can!' but 'Grab a mop!"

[Clio the Leo]

Just as I suspected....

Behind the 'mop' line
By CAROL E. LEE | 10/23/09 7:52 PM

By now, most of President Obama's followers have heard the "mop" anecdote. It's been one of Obama's favorite ways in the past week to attack his Republican critics. He doesn't mind cleaning up the mess the GOP left, the anecdote goes. "But I don’t want the folks who made the mess to sit there and say, you’re not mopping fast enough," Obama says. "I want them to grab a mop!”

Obama first used the line at a fundraiser in San Francisco last week. He's since trotted it out at two fundraisers this week in New York and again Friday night in Connecticut.

It's not "Yes we can!" but "Grab a mop!" has caught among the Obama faithful. After he used it during a fundraiser in Manhattan, supporters packed into Hammerstein Ballroom broke into a chant: "Grab a mop! Grab a mop!" Beyond the event circuit, Obama enthusiasts worked the anecdote into the status updates on their Facebook pages.

So which of Obama's aides or speechwriters came up with it? Apparently none.

It doesn't happen often, but the president's aides say the Obama came up with the "mop" tale on his own.

And he's not adverse to tweaking it. The last couple times he's added a broom to the mix.

"Grab a mop or a broom or something," Obama said Friday at a fundraiser for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) "Make yourselves useful.”

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1009/cleaning_up_62b08a08-eabf-4a05-ad87-584b806db4b0.html