QUOTE OF THE DAY…. Last June, President Obama hosted a press conference, and was pressed on the timing of his various pronouncements. “I know everybody here is on a 24-hour news cycle,” he told Chuck Todd. “I’m not.”
It was a reminder that this White House has little use for cable’s clock, despite its pervasive influence on public attitudes and the political discourse.
We heard a bit more of the president’s thoughts on this today, during an appearance in Maine. Obama noted that the pundits are now chattering about the fact that divisions over health care reform have not yet disappeared.
“You have to love some of the pundits in Washington. Every single day there’s been another poll saying, ‘The nation is still divided on health reform. The polls haven’t changed yet.’
“Well, yeah, it just happened last week! It’s only been a week!
“Can you imagine if some of these reporters were working on a farm and you planted some seeds and they came out next day and they looked — Nothing’s happened! There’s no crop! We’re gonna starve! Oh, no! It’s a disaster!
“It’s been a week, folks. So before we find out if people like health care reform, we should wait to see what happens when we actually put it into place. Just a thought.”
That’s sound advice — for all of the president’s intended audiences.
Update: I’ve added a clip of this, as posted by ThinkProgress.
