President Barack Obama talks with a patron during a lunch stop in Reidsville, N.C., Oct. 18, 2011.
(Pete Souza/White House)
Nice.
President Obama wrapped up his three-day bus trip through North Carolina and Virginia today by telling a group of firefighters that public safety jobs across the country basically depend on congressional Republicans.
"We'll see if they'll fight just as hard for your jobs as they fight for their jobs," Obama told members of Fire Station 9 in North Chesterfield, Va.
In other words, if those firefighters lose their jobs, it's the GOP's fault.
Americans are livid with government for paralysis in the face of economic calamity. It's important people know exactly who is to blame if additional drastic cuts slash into the ability of government to serve and protect us.
With Occupy Wall Street setting the terms of the economic debate with a message that resonates with Americans, and Obama (finally!) on the offensive on jobs, you can sense Republican nervousness. It leads to insipid sounds bites like this one:
"Let's park the campaign bus, put away the talking points, and do something to address this jobs crisis," McConnell said. "The American people want action. The election's 13 months away. Let's do what we were elected to do."
Obama has only been on that "campaign bus" for three days, yet they desperately want him off it, don't they? But what have McConnell and the GOP been doing the rest of the last three years?
Obama is right—there's one party (for the most part) in DC that wants to save jobs and create new ones, and there's a party that is terrified at the prospect of job growth. There's one party that wants to see America working, and another one that is undermining our country for partisan gain.
There is nothing the GOP fears more than a job created, and they'll do everything in their power to prevent that from happening. It's now up to Obama and the Democrats (including the worthless Blue Dogs, if they want to survive 2012) to aggressively point that out.