Did First Lady Use 'Divisive Rhetoric' in 2014 Campaign?

    Since Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in Israel's recent elections, the Obama administration has made its displeasure with the results abundantly clear. To help justify changes in its posture towards Israel, the White House appears anxious to point out what it sees as "divisive" rhetoric and attitudes by Netanyahu and his party aimed at the Arab population of Israel. To that end, Press Secretary Josh Earnest came to the press gaggle on Air Force One on Wednesday with a prepared response on the topic. When none of the reporters broached the subject, Earnest unloaded anyway:

There’s one other thing that I anticipated might come up that I just did want to mention as it relates to the Israeli elections.  Specifically, there has been a lot of coverage in the media about some of the rhetoric that emerged yesterday that was propagated by the Likud Party to encourage turnout of their supporters that sought to, frankly, marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens.  The United States and this administration is deeply concerned by divisive rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens. 

It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.  We’ve talked a lot about how our shared values are an important part of what binds our two countries together, and rhetoric that seeks to marginalize one segment of their population is deeply concerning and it is divisive.  And I can tell you that these are views that the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.

    However, when it comes to condemning divisive campaign rhetoric, the White House could begin closer to home. Although President Obama takes exception to what he perceives as Likud's attempt to "marginalize one segment of [Israel's] population," First Lady Michelle Obama routinely invoked race and gender in her campaign stump speech in the run-up to the 2014 mid-terms. Remarks she made at a rally in Milwaukee in September 2014 are typical of how she clearly labels the Democrats ("our people") as female, minorities and the young, while Republicans are simply "the other side":

And I don’t know if you remember, but a lot of people were shocked when Barack won because they were counting on folks like us to stay home.  But we proved them wrong.  (Applause.)  Barack won because record numbers of women and minorities and young people showed up to vote.  That’s why we won.  (Applause.) 

But here’s what happens -- but then when the midterms come along, too many of our people just tuned out.  And that’s what folks on the other side are counting on this year, because when we stay home, they win.  So they’re assuming that we won’t care.  They’re assuming that we won’t be organized and energized.  And only we can prove them wrong. [emphasis added]

    While the first lady invoked race and gender repeatedly in her speeches, President Obama himself raised the same issue at a dinner for Democrats in April 2014. He even accused the "other side" of trying to discourage "our voters" from voting, a technique he called (with some help from the audience) "Un-American" [emphasis added]:

THE PRESIDENT: ...On every issue of importance, Democrats actually have the better argument, and we have majority opinion behind us.  But we have this congenital disease, which is in midterm elections we don't vote at the same rates.  Our voters are younger, more unmarried women, more African American and Latino voters.  They get excited about general elections; they don't get as excited about midterm elections. 

And what’s compounding the problem is obviously the massive amounts of money that are coming from super PACs on the other side and active efforts to discourage people from voting -- which is another thing I don't understand but apparently is fairly active here in Texas.  The idea that you’d purposely try to prevent people from voting --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Un-American.

THE PRESIDENT:  Un-American.

     Not only did the president and his wife engage in the kind of divisive rhetoric of which they accuse "the other side", President Obama has, ironically enough, reportedly taken offense at the suggestion that the strategy was successful. David Axelrod wrote in his recently released book Believer that the president was "irritated" by Governor Romney's concession phone call. The Hill reports:

Axelrod writes that Obama was annoyed Romney seemed to be blaming the loss on the black vote.  

"'You really did a great job of getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee,' in other words, black people," Obama said, summarizing Romney's message. "That's what he thinks this was all about."

     But while Mitt Romney vehemently denies making the remarks about "getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee," the president's wife in her speech in Milwaukee flatly declared, "Barack won because record numbers of women and minorities and young people showed up to vote."
     Given the Obamas blatant use of demographics to spur their voters to the polls, the White House's indignant reaction to Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign may be less about "deep concern" over "marginalization" and more about projection.

Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

From Here to Eternity... Or Election Day, Whichever Comes First

    In James Taranto's Tuesday edition of his Wall Street Journal Online column The Best of the Web, Taranto quotes from a recent article by the Journal's Gerald Seib: "[S]ix months is an eternity in modern politics."  The phrase sounds very familiar to even the casual consumer of political media, but just how hackneyed the formulation has become may surprise even grizzled political veterans.  The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God has set eternity in the hearts of men, but clearly eternity is also set in the pens of pundits.  With barely a research effort to speak of, here's an abridged compilation of this most versatile of politics memes:

• "Sixteen months is an eternity in politics..." Ocala Star Banner

• "Fifteen months is an eternity in politics, so Sen. Lautenberg has plenty of time..." Rutgers

• "Fourteen months is an eternity in politics..." National Post

• "Thirteen months is a long time between now and election day. Thirteen months is an eternity in politics." New York Times

• "Twelve months is an eternity in politics."  The Sunday Times

• "...two weeks is a long time in politics, eleven months is an eternity." Canada Free Press

• "But ten months can be an eternity in politics..." Right Side News

• "There are also still nine months left in 2014 – an eternity in politics." Breitbart

• "Eight months is an eternity in politics..." PolicyMic

• "...seven months away, an eternity in American politics." Bloomberg

• "Six months is an eternity in modern politics..." WSJ

• "Five months is an eternity in politics." Free Republic

• "They say a day in politics is a long time. A little over four months would perhaps qualify as an eternity..." CVMTV

• "Three months is an eternity in politics..." Dogwood Initiative

• "Two months is an eternity in politics..." Democratic Underground

• "Now we’re under a month to go until the November 6 election, at which point today will seem like an eternity ago." Reuters

    To be clear, I could have gone higher than sixteen months, but since this is not a political campaign, I didn't have eternity to work on it.  And time also fails me to tell of the eternal nature of political days, weeks, and years.
    But the trail leading to the apex of hyperbole doesn't end here. Politico (as reposted by CBS News) managed to squeeze eternity into a single hour back in 2007:

• "An hour is an eternity in politics." Politico/CBS News

    The grand prize, however, goes to Michael Green writing in the Federal Political News from Joyce Communications in Nevada. Green bests Politico by a factor of sixty:

• "Much can change in that long a period, since a minute is an eternity in politics." Joyce Communications

    But on second thought, maybe Michael Green was on to something.  After all, many candidates watching returns crawl in on election night could certainly identify with the words of Franz Kafka: "L'éternité, c'est long ... surtout vers la fin." Eternity is long, especially near the end.

Obama: 'Sometimes People Forget I'm Not Running for Office Again'

    At a stop in San Francisco on a three-day fund raising swing along the West Coast, President Obama said during a speech that "...sometimes people forget I'm not running for office again."  The president was talking about Republicans in Congress and the immigration reform that he is trying to get through the House:

And some of them even forget that I'm -- sometimes people forget I'm not running for office again.  Michelle doesn’t forget.   (Laughter and applause.)  So you don’t have to worry about this somehow being good for me.  This is good for the country.   It's the right thing to do for the American people. 

    A remark the president made at his first stop on the tour, the Seattle home of Jon Shirley, may give some insight into why some forget the president isn't running again:

Well, first of all, let me just thank Jon for the second time for his incredible hospitality.  And I think it’s fair to say that between Nancy and me and Steve Israel, we do a lot of events.  I will say that this particular space is one of the more spectacular venues for an event.

    The president's schedule lists several Democrat party events for Monday alone:

Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.