Unit Four: Institutions of National Government

“Obama on GOP challengers: ‘They’re not commander in chief’”

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/06/10593398-obama-on-gop-challengers-theyre-not-commander-in-chief

Synopsis: Obama chose Super Tuesday to respond to GOP presidential candidates’ criticisms on how he handled the situation in Iran and Syria. President Obama said “Now, what’s said on the campaign trial—you know, those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities. They’re not commander in chief.” He continued to say “And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I’m reminded of the costs involved in war; I’m reminded of the decision that I have to make…This is not a game. And there’s nothing casual about it.” Obama also spoke of immigration reform and that the reason that he did not keep his 2008 promise of immigration reform was because “what used to be a bipartisan agreement that we should fix this ended up becoming a partisan issue.”

Analysis: This speech made by President Obama on Super Tuesday was basically a campaign speech. He criticized his GOP opponents as well as blaming the whole Republican Party and Congress for not accomplishing his immigration reform agenda. The President’s response to the GOP candidates’ criticisms of his handling of the situations in Iran and Syria not only defended him put questioned whether his opponents could handle the role as commander-in-chief. He made them appear to think that war is no big deal and that they would not think about all the consequences of a decision. This could cause voters to second guess the Republican candidates and their foreign policy and feel uneasy about voting for them. Obama also geared up for his campaign by giving an explanation as to why he could not keep his promise of immigration reform. I feel that he is blaming divided government for the reason his goals were not accomplished, but instead of pointing a finger I think it would be better to take action and try to make a change now. However, we are in the middle of an election and I think that we will be hearing more excuses as to why certain promises were not kept.