CNN: Borger: Republicans Twittering away credibility

[Pirate Smile]

Borger: Republicans Twittering away credibility

By Gloria Borger
CNN Senior Political Analyst

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When presidents are new, first impressions really count: Your demeanor (shirtsleeves, not jackets, in the Oval Office), your stature (move over, Mr. Sarkozy) and, of course, your plans for America's future (not to mention your plans for our 401(k)s).

-snip-
And finally, the pirates of Somalia -- threatening an American crew -- hold an American captain hostage. A high-stakes, visible, compelling story, with inevitable winners and losers.

That's when you learn about a president.

The president played it cool -- in fact, pitch-perfect -- as it turns out. We now know that while he was saying little in public, he was completely engaged. He sent his secretary of state to warn the pirates publicly -- while the president privately held more than 17 briefings on the matter and made sure the bureaucrats at all agencies were working together (no small task).
And finally, he gave an unambiguous order -- to shoot if the captain's life was in peril.
And when it was all over, as a top administration official told me, Obama "didn't wrap himself around the bravery of those military seals."

-snip-
But what about the style of say, Newt Gingrich? The former House Speaker -- often mentioned as a possible presidential contender in 2012 -- decided to Twitter his inner thoughts on the pirates in real-time.
Last Saturday: "Obama is making a major mistake in not forcefully outlining the rules of civilization for dealing with pirates. We look weak."

By Monday, after the safe rescue of the captain, Gingrich was, er, a tad more laudatory: "The Navy seals did exactly the right thing in rescuing the American captain. President Obama did the right thing in allowing the Navy to act."
A grudging kudo, if there ever was one.
Would it have been better if the president of the United States had publicly engaged with a bunch of teenage thug pirates? It's beneath Obama's pay grade and dignity -- not to mention how it would have added fuel to an already incendiary situation.
So how about just admitting that the administration performed admirably in this crisis?

Here's the problem: If Republicans can't allow that the president did his job well in this unambiguous case, why should we believe their complaints about anything else? If they can't pat him on the back for this one, why should we even listen to their arguments about the budget, about health care, about energy?
If Republicans want Americans to see their arguments as credible -- as they may well be -- they need to present themselves as the credible opposition.

Good first impressions count for them, too. And so far, Republicans are Twittering them away.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/14/borger.republicans/index.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. Good when OMC posted it, and good now.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Sorry, I missed the earlier post.

:hi:

[BlooInBloo]

4. Not a problem - it bears repeating.

[Democrats_win]

2. Support your loco Republican give to the Institute.