Obama chief Daley: Politics is uncivil like reality TV
"Incivility in politics is reflective of a general incivility in society," said William Daley, President Obama's chief of staff, at the Third Annual Ideas Forum Wednesday. He pointed to reality TV -- where he said people treat each other in obnoxious ways -- as evidence, noting that one cannot separate society from politics and vice versa.
"There is not the engagement anymore that there used to be," Daley observed. The nation is divided, and the American people are "stressed out" and the political season is "extremely volatile," he added.
In conversation with CBS News White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell at the forum, Daley was also asked about the possibility of another recession.
"The general consensus is you won't have another recession, but what is going on in Europe is cause of great concern....The expectation is European leaders will take action to prevent serious negative results that would cause the world to slip back further than we are. The expectation now is we wont see a double dip," Daley said.
Regarding the work of the Supercommittee to come up with a bold solution to America's debt problems, Daley said, "The membership is truly the leaders of Congress....and if they can't do something bold it would be another damnation of the system."
The Supercommittee has to be a broader consensus, Daley said. "Let's all hold hands and jump off the edge...even if there is no net," was his idea of how the members should approach working together.
O'Donnell asked Daley which Republican he was most concerned about running against. Daley deadpanned, "Christie," inciting laughter from the audience. O'Donnell then asked about GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney. "Never met," Daley responded.
He then said whoever gets the GOP nomination will be a formidable candidate because the country is divided, as it has been in recent past elections. "It is going to be a tough, close election...that is how the president approaches it....Bring it on."
Daley said the low point in his tenure so far was the failed attempt to go big with Speaker Boehner on the debt ceiling, and the high point the elimination of Osama bin Laden. Regarding the drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, Daley said the U.S. is "very close to a strategic defeat" of al Qaeda. "This president has proven a certain steel without using techniques that make the U.S. less popular," Daley said.
Daley was also asked about the stylistic differences between Mr. Obama and former president Bill Clinton.
"There are lots of way they are different and the times are very different, and it's not just personality or their style of management," Daley said. "Clinton was somebody who expressed himself quite a bit and rather vocally...he was open in his emotion and conveyed feeling."
He described Obama as "no drama," "steady and controlled" and constantly searching for more information, as was Clinton.
O'Donnell queried Daley about who won in a golf outing he was on with Clinton and Mr. Obama. "You don't keep score when you play with Bill Clinton," he said.