Some impressions from President Obama's strong first press conference last night:
First impression: Wow, what a contrast with Dumbya, who couldn't manage a coherent sentence, much less explain and defend complex policies. Obama, on the other hand, is certainly in command of the facts of the economic stimulus package, and demonstrated it in his detailed answers. He was wise to travel to Elkhart, IN yesterday before the press conference so that he could establish his connection to the real people outside of the Beltway Bubble. Today, he's in Florida, to be welcomed by Florida Rethug Governor Charlie "Jesus" Crist. Crist apparently won't go along with the Congressional Rethuglican "nothing is better than something" approach.
Obama deftly punctured some the the Beltway conventional wisdom about "bipartisanship" and pointed out that he offered tax cuts in the package early on, and the Rethugs were happy about it. . .before they turned against it. He also asked why, in the name of bipartisanship, we should accept the failed philosophies of the last 8 years (tax cuts for the wealthy and opening up corporate tax loopholes) that the Rethugs are still pushing.
An interesting sidelight is the way the Beltway media and cable TV punditocracy are misreading the public mood. Their perception is that the Rethugs are winning in the public opinion war, when in fact, aside from Rush Limpballs' "ditto heads" calling their Congressmen, public opinion is siding with Obama. You wouldn't know that if you only listed to the Beltway Villagers. Last night's powerful performance by Obama should solidify his approval numbers.
