Rick Santelli, the CNBC reporter who went into a certifiable rant against the Obama housing plan Thursday, found himself in the White House bullseye 24-hours later: the object of scorn and humorous derision from the president’s press secretary Robert Gibbs.
“I’m not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives,” Gibbs said during the daily briefing. “But the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgage, stay in their jobs, pay their bills to send their kids to school, and to hope that they don’t get sick or somebody they care for gets sick that sends them into bankruptcy. I think we left a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader, that it was good for main street. I think the verdict is in on that.”
I think Gibbs needed to respond directly. Santelli tapped into a nerve, and not responding would be unwise. Naming him ensures that Santelli defend himself and pay the consequences for his rant.
The Administration responds, fortunately without the combative nature that Clinton had. Obama comes across as the adult in the room, the one who is supporting American families. “Coffee. Decaf.” An appropriate rejoinder.
Sean Quinn at fivethirtyeight has a pretty good analysis, Kendall.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/02/santelli-smackdown-shows-white-house.html
CNN and the ‘drive-by media’ portrayed Democrats (and anchors such as Keith Obermann and Anderson Cooper) who acted in this manner during the Bush administration as heroic.
Republicans castigated the Bush Administration for NOT responding to verbal attacks (without substance), while the Admin remained quiet. Much of that silence led to the erroneous conclusion that the Bush Administration was ‘clueless’ and ‘out of touch’. Whereas they were actually acting in an adult manner.
Now the tables are turned.
What Gibbs did was ‘tit-for-tat’, sounding like a fool, not an adult. And Obama does not have any respect for American families, as his comments on spreading the wealth and ‘Small town Americans were those who were bitter against the government and therefore clung to their guns, religion and antipathy towards others different then themselves” — that’s not supportive respect.
A rant – Yes!
However, the story also has legs because Santelli expresses exactly how many Americans feel about the bailouts. That is, they include rewards for irresponsible behaviour by individuals and corporations.
No question Robert Gibbs should have responded to the argument, but not the person as much as he did. Especially in an instance like this. I am not at all a Larry Kudlow fan, but the reference to the Dan Rather incident is apt.
And his argument is not well thought through. It is insulting to suggest that Mr. Santelli hadn’t read the plan without even checking [and they apparently didn’t]. Rick had read the plan (not too surprising given his job). That kind of thing makes Mr. Gibbs look foolish, and the overall response suffers as a result.
I can think of numerous officials in either party who could have done a much more effective job.
The thing is, Gibbs didn’t respond directly. He belched out an ad hominem and then made a political speech. Santelli is right, and there’s no getting around it.
Gibbs continued the demeaning of the Office of the President by calling out, by name, a media commentator. Argue the policy, argue the specific points, don’t bring the Office of the President down to the level of taking on individual media people. It shows a thin-skinned approach to criticism and a disdain for the freedom of the press. Whatever you may dislike about GW Bush, he valued the appearance of the Office of the President and would never have done something like this.
RE: “Naming him ensures that Santelli defend himself and pay the consequences for his rant.”
Hee hee.
Yep. We get to see Santelli repeat the problems with the ridiculous mortgage bailout plan. And it gets to continue going viral.
And the American people get to continue seeing it. And they get to say “yep — go get ’em, Mr. Santelli — we sure as heck can’t.”
The consequences? Santelli the Hero, that’s the consequences.