White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:
"I think the president looks forward to getting out of town for a few hours and talk directly with people that are affected. Given today’s numbers its important to go directly to where people are hurting and discuss directly with them the price of inaction and what he thinks we can do to put people back to work and invest long-term."
Like he did in the campaign, President Obama is traveling deep into the heart of right-wing territory: Elkhart, Indiana on Monday and in Fort Myers, Florida on Tuesday, both of which are blood red Republican districts, for town halls.
I'm feeling nostalgic:
It is time to look past the obstructionist representatives and senators who would rather have the president fail. It is time to go directly to the people, those who are suffering.
"the Elkhart, Indiana area [is] where the unemployment rate has gone, in the past year, from 4.7% to 15.3%." - John Yang, NBC News
The media and the Republicans have commandeered the narrative. They have successfully drowned out the voices of the American people. And as usual, they have put our Democratic leaders on the defensive. But now we have an offensive president.
President Obama: ... then you get the argument, "well this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill". What do you think a stimulus is?
They want to return to campaigning? Fine! We'll take this argument out of the corridors of Washington, out of the channels of self serving "news" channels, out of the hands of lobbyists and politicians, and into the streets, the community centers, and the living rooms where the people are suffering.
They delivered this class-war catastrophe wrapped in fraud, corruption, and cronyism, and now they are forcing the greatest campaigner in the history of America to return to his forte.
Bring it on! This is the change I've been waiting for!
(cross-posted from Progressive Junction)