Presidential Press Conference starting now - Noon CST

[Dennis S]

The press conference is starting now - Noon CST or 1 PM EST.

[Grace62]

Playing the Commander in Chief Card.

"Other side is more about politics than trying to solve a difficult problem."

"Everything else is just talk."

[Ted King]

Said to be from Obama's address:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/en...an?ref=fpa

Now, what is said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. They are not commander-in-chief. And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I'm reminded of the costs involved in war. I'm reminded that the decision that I have to make, in terms of sending our young men and women into battle, and the impact that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy. This is not a game, and there is nothing casual about it. And, you know, when I see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk, but when you actually ask them specifically what they would do, it turns out they repeat the things that we've been doing over the last three years. It indicates to me that that is more about politics than actually trying to solve a difficult problem. Now, the one thing that we have not done is we haven't launched a war. If some of these folks think that it's time to launch a war they should say so, and they should explain to the american people exactly why they would do that and what the consequences would be. Everything else is just talk.

Pretty strong stuff.

[$tevie]

Please let me know when he says something that deserved a sudden public statement.

[Dennis S]

What a breath of fresh air. And no teleprompter!

[Ted King]

I strongly suspect that this had a lot to do with the Obama campaign deciding that today will mark the clear turning point for Romney where he will be looking much more certain to get the Republican nomination. Juxtapose that with Romney's op-ed saying that Obama's approach to Iran is like Jimmy Carter's and that he, Romney, will be like Ronald Reagan. By coming out with a strong statement like "everything else is just talk", Obama is simultaneously calling Romney out on what he said in the op-ed and also having the narrative of the day be about more than Romney's big day in the primaries by, amongst other things, "forcing" Romney to respond to Obama's remarks on Iran.

[RgrF]

Well if the intent was to steal thunder from or blunt coverage of todays GOP elections, it failed miserably. Even MSNBC stalwarts focused on election returns and supposed scenarios, not presidential pronouncements.

[Ted King]

RgrF wrote:
Well if the intent was to steal thunder from or blunt coverage of todays GOP elections, it failed miserably. Even MSNBC stalwarts focused on election returns and supposed scenarios, not presidential pronouncements.

But the middle part of the day when they would have been focusing on the primaries and Romney, they were talking about Obama's press conference instead. And the marker Obama laid down about Romney's irresponsible pronouncement on how to deal with Iran is a narrative that I think will continue to play out - which could take some of the "loftiness" out of Romney's wins last night as he engages the president on the issue (unless the attention deficit press can't stay focused on a critical foreign policy issue for more than a few nanoseconds). It also is a building block in a long term narrative the Obama campaign wants to get out there that Romney isn't ready to take on big league foreign policy issues. Some long-term strategies work through small tactical victories adding up.