Media reports last night and this morning offer glowing reviews of President Obama's early diplomatic moves in Europe and in the process, implicitly or explicitly, are drawing contrasts between Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush. The ranks of those openly comparing Obama's performance to Bush's include an unnamed "senior White House official." In a story about Obama's meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the CBS Evening News noted "a senior White House official said the US and Russia will now focus on mutual interests not 'a buddy/buddy relationship,' a reference to former President Bush's claim that he'd looked into Russian leader Vladimir Putin's eyes and got a sense of his soul." The Financial Times also notes that "Obama officials made it clear that the US president would 'not be looking into souls.'" Reuters draws a contrast between Obama and Bush, while The Politico says that yesterday, "in strokes of symbolism and on issues of substance," Obama "made one thing clear: The Bush era of foreign policy is over." Adds The Politico, "Gone was diplomacy by towel-snapping."
ABC World News Obama "is forging personal relationships with heads of state some of whom have not recently had warm things to say about the US." On MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews said, "Barack rocks in Britain, bustling through history." The AP refers to "a stunning reversal from policies of the Bush administration," and under the headline "In Britain, Obama Vows To Listen, Not Lecture," the Washington Times reports Obama's "style was a stark change from that of his predecessor."
More negative was the report on CNN's Situation Room, where CNN Correspondent Ed Henry said, "What the President is really saying -- when he focuses on trying to listen and not lecturing -- is that he's turning the page from the Bush years. But that doesn't seem to be working with some European allies like the French President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They held a joint press conference today, saying that they're not going to give any ground over the next couple of days unless there's really serious financial regulation of both hedge funds and overseas tax havens. So it's going to be a thorny issue for this President to handle."
USA Today reports "Obama appeared relaxed throughout a hectic day of diplomacy," and the Washington Post says Obama's day "was a whirl of high-minded, high-stakes diplomacy and an old-fashioned charm offensive." The Financial Times headlines its story "Genial Obama Points To New Diplomacy," and the AP, in a dispatch titled "Obama Seems Everywhere As He Takes Global Stage," describes the President as "seemingly everywhere, relaxed and smiling all the while." Obama, adds the AP, "dashed through a dawn-to-dark schedule Wednesday despite the effects of a head cold."
In contrast to most other media commentary, "MSNBC's Political Analyst" Richard Wolfe, appearing on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, offered a different view of Obama's performance in London, saying, "He should...have been better prepared. The British press is entirely predictable. They are always contentious. ... I think the President look jet-lagged. He sounded like he is suffering from some kind of head cold, but that is no real excuse for...a pretty lackluster performance."
In what the Washington Post calls "a recognition of a new economic era with a less dominant US role," the President "delivered an unusual warning" in London "Wednesday for an American leader: The 'voracious' US economy can no longer be the sole engine of global growth." The New York Times notes that in his remarks, the President also "conceded that the United States had 'some accounting to do' for failures that led to the world's financial crisis, even as he tried to brush past heavy pressure from Germany and France to accept sweeping global financial regulations that could reach well inside American borders." The Wall Street Journal also notes "Obama began by conceding US culpability in starting the global financial crisis."
McClatchy reports Obama went on to say that "the US, Britain, France and Germany were all in broad agreement on the need to stimulate their economies and better regulate financial systems. The differences between countries, he argued, is 'just arguing at the margins.'" Obama also "blamed the news media for hyping dissent to make a better story." However, the Wall Street Journal notes Sarkozy and Merkel "answered with a combative appearance of their own, demanding stricter international regulation of the world financial system -- Mr. Sarkozy called it 'non-negotiable' -- and warning against an empty conclusion of the conference despite many disputes over its direction." AFP reports Merkel has also "spoken out against governments like the US and Britain spending their way out of the crisis."
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News stories and analyses (including reports in all three network newscasts) are giving Obama high marks for what ABC World News called a "major breakthrough" in US-Russia relations. Said ABC, "After years of what both" Obama and Medvedev "described as a 'drift' between the two countries, the two men today, after their first ever meeting, declared a new day." Obama was shown saying, "What I believe we've begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest, like the reduction of nuclear weapons." In a follow-up story, ABC World News referred to the Obama-Medvedev meeting as "truly crucial. And if you look at the language of their statement, it goes beyond the normal diplomatic speak, setting out a very specific work plan for negotiators leading up to the summit in July. They set out goals and deadlines and appear to want those goals met."
On its front page, the Washington Post reports "the Medvedev talks were the most scrutinized part of Obama's second day here, with observers eager to assess how a relative novice to international politics would work with a Russian government that in just the past year has cut off gas supplies to Europe in the middle of winter and waged war in Georgia to protect its interests." USA Today similarly reports that the Obama-Medvedev meeting "marked the beginning of a new chapter in US-Russian relations. Their predecessors," Bush and Putin, "met about 30 times and established a close relationship. But their terms ended with deep policy differences." Before yesterday's meeting, says the New York Times, US-Russia relations were "teetering on the brink of a new cold war."
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Director of National Intelligence "has sent conflicting messages to the agencies he supervises, and bureaucratic turf battles continue to rage among the 16 spy agencies, while his staff continues to grow without clear direction," according to an internal report released Wednesday. As a result, "key national security tools, such as the terrorist watch-list, are hampered by poor management and persistent data integrity problems," the inspector general's report found. In the "first such internal critique to be made public," the report "lays out the challenges facing President Barack Obama's director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, as he inherits a still-immature agency." The report, which was made public at a congressional oversight hearing, was completed in November by Edward Maguire, inspector general for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who wrote that the DNI "still hasn't established a plan or structure to ensure that officers from different agencies, which have a history of rivalry, work together to counter national security threats."
The New York Times says the "withering internal report" criticized the ODNI "for bureaucratic bloat, financial mismanagement and a failure to end the turf battles." The IG's report also "criticized as excessive the amount of time that successive intelligence chiefs have spent briefing the White House and Congress compared with the relatively little time they have devoted to managing a byzantine intelligence apparatus." The Los Angeles Times notes that "in delivering the document" to lawmakers, Maguire "said progress had been made since the report was completed in November, particularly with the issuing of new rules designed to force intelligence agencies to do a better job sharing information."
In what many media reports are casting as an extraordinary move, the Justice Department on Wednesday asked that the corruption conviction of former Senator Ted Stevens be dismissed. Despite gaining a conviction, the Stevens prosecution has been plagued by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and many reports note that Stevens stood a decent chance of having the conviction tossed on appeal. Attorney General Eric Holder is generally being praised for asking for the dismissal of all charges. NPR's Morning Edition was the first to report the story. NPR reported "Holder said he has decided to drop the case against Stevens rather than continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from the actions of prosecutors. ... 'After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial,' Holder said in a statement Wednesday."
The Washington Post says "the move comes as the judge was preparing to conduct hearings to probe allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by the team that tried one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress last year. The request, made in a court filing, caps the controversial prosecution of Stevens, who requested an early trial to clear his name but was convicted just days before he lost a reelection bid." The New York Times calls the move "a stunning development," and reports, "in their filing on Wednesday, government lawyers said that trial prosecutors had concealed from Mr. Stevens's defense lawyers the notes from an interview with Mr. Allen that raised significant doubts about the charges."
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The Washington Times reports that Democratic and GOP "campaign officials each predicted victory Wednesday in the" NY20 Congressional District special election, "which remained near-tied and waiting to be decided by thousands of absentee and military ballots that have yet to be counted." Democrat Scott Murphy's "paper-thin lead over Republican Jim Tedisco had shrunk to a mere 25 votes from 65 at the close of Tuesday night's returns." The Politico reports that DCCC Chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen "said Wednesday the" NY20 race "showed the potency of the Democrats' economic message and the perils of the GOP's stiffly oppositional stance toward the president." The Financial Times reports that DNC Chairman Tim Kaine "said the results were 'a repudiation of the failed politics and policies that Republicans continue to embrace'." Meantime, RNC Chief Michael Steele "said his party went 'toe-to-toe with the Obama Democratic machine' and 'showed that our party can and will be competitive' in the US north-east and other Democratic-dominated regions."The Hill reports, "It's hard to predict which direction" the "absentee ballots will go in" the NY20 contest, "but the educated guesses point to...Murphy. "
Roll Call reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "shifted his guns Wednesday in the ongoing battle over Minnesota's vacant Senate seat, redirecting his fire from the GOP candidate challenging the recount to" NRSC Chief Sen. John Cornyn. Instead of "blaming" Republican Norm Coleman "for trying to make up a 225-vote deficit to Democrat Al Franken via the courts," Reid spokesman Jim Manley "charged that Cornyn is responsible for a legal fight that has left Minnesota with just one Senator since January." Meanwhile, Roll Call reported on its Website, "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled Wednesday that his Conference remains committed to filibustering any attempt to seat" Franken before Coleman has exhausted the appeal process. McConnell, in a statement, "called for 'patience over partisanship' in handling the matter."
The Hill reports that the GOP "will fight like hell to keep the Democrats from getting to 60 [Senate] seats in 2010. But if it doesn't, it'll have a good shot at bringing them back down in 2012," as that cycle "will give Senate Republicans a map full of opportunities, with 24 Democratic seats on the line and many of them in red or swing states." The Democrats "up include five members who will be 77 years of age or older, five who represent states that" backed Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) in the 2008 presidential race "and 10 completing their first full term in the chamber."
The AP reports, "The husband of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says the" GOP's "lavish spending on her wardrobe during the presidential campaign was 'out of our control.'" In the May issue of Men's Journal, Todd Palin "was asked about the more than $150,000 that the" RNC "spent on clothes, accessories and beauty services for the GOP vice presidential nominee. He defended his wife, saying she was focused on preparation for her debate with Joe Biden."
The AP reports, "An indictment is expected as early as Thursday charging ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich with presiding over state government awash in political corruption. The indictment U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald is expected to produce would replace a complaint charging Blagojevich with plotting to trade or sell" the Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama "and a host of other corruption."
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Jay Leno: "Yesterday, Barack Obama made his first trip as president to England." Here is "my question. If the President is in England, who's running General Motors?"
Jay Leno: "More embarrassment for the President. Just a few weeks after President Obama named Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as his health and human services nominee, she now reveals she owes over $7,000 in back taxes. Another one owes. See, that's the difference between the two political parties right there. Republicans believe in no new taxes. Democrats believe in no old ones."
Jay Leno: "China says it wants to replace the US dollar with a new global currency. They want to move from a gold-based standard to a lead-based standard."
David Letterman: "A lot of excitement there, though," at the G20 summit. They are "giving away a door prize. ... Yeah, this year, it's Iceland."
David Letterman: "I like to contrast what" President Obama is "up to and what John McCain, his opponent in the general election, is up to. For example," Obama "met with 17 political leaders from 11 nations. He will attend five summits in different countries around Europe. Today, comparatively speaking, John McCain watched his 89 Caddy go through the car wash."
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