Obama Stays Active Behind the Curtain
When I asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about President Obama's "light schedule" this week, he laughed out loud. I was referring, of course, to the president's public schedule, and in fact this is one of the lightest weeks he's had in some time, at least on paper.
But Gibbs' response couldn't have said it more clearly -- there's a whole lot of stuff going on behind the curtain.
It's one of the great frustrations of covering the president - most of the time the White House press corps, which sits a 30 second walk from the Oval Office, has little idea what's going on in there. But we do know he's a workaholic - 16 hour days are no big deal for him. And there's no shortage of issues to help him fill that time.
One big one: picking a Supreme Court nominee. Gibbs was asked at Wednesday's briefing if the president has finished his interviews, and after a thoughtful pause Gibbs said he's not sure - seeming to suggest the president is close.
Following up with other aides, I'm told he is indeed on the verge of completing the interviews, some of them quite lengthy. He's also said to be reading reams of opinions and law review articles, just as he did last year during the process that led to his selection of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. You don't get to be President of the Harvard Law Review by being less than thorough.
The Court choice is probably the main reason he has so little on the public schedule this week, but it's not the only reason - the fact is, in this year when he was supposed to be focused like a laser beam on "jobs, jobs, jobs," he's dealing with a deluge of issues and events.
Here are just some of the things that are taking up his time behind closed doors:
- Financial regulation, which Harry Reid wants to finish next week;
- Health care implementation: Most of the work is being done at HHS, but scared congressional Democrats are counting on him to get out there and sell it all over again before the election;
- Immigration: It's not going to pass this year, but the Arizona controversy -- and the president's promises to members of the Hispanic Caucus during health care arm-twisting sessions - have put it back on his agenda;
- Energy: Some say the oil spill is the final stake in the heart of the energy bill for this year, but some Democrats are telling the White House it increases the urgency of addressing it;
- Foreign Policy: The president's been up to his ears in everything from Russian nukes to Iran sanctions to Middle East peace;
- Afghanistan: the president has another of his lengthy situation room meetings on Afghanistan and Pakistan Thursday.
All of these issues are time-consuming and tough. As Mr. Obama likes to say, all the easy decisions are made before they get to him.
Of course there are also the unpredictable events that are taking up so much of his time - like the oil spill in the gulf and the Times Square bombing attempt.
Finally, there's politics. The president said not long ago that he wouldn't really turn his attention to the November elections until September. Yeah, right. He sure sounded like he was knee-deep in the fall campaign last week in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Sleeves rolled up, crowds chanting "yes we can." And he's already got a heavy fund-raising schedule - which is sure to become vastly more intense this summer.
So I guess I should be clearer when I ask Gibbs about the president's "light schedule."
