President Obama, Washington Outsider

President Obama doesn't like Washington, and he wants you to know it.

Obama hit the anti-Washington note hard in his appearance today in suburban Philadelphia to stump for health care reform.

"Well, it is great to be back here in the Keystone State. It's even better to be out of Washington, D.C.," Obama told the crowd. "First of all, the people of D.C. are wonderful.  They're nice people, they're good people; love the city, the monuments, everything.  But when you're in Washington, folks respond to every issue, every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question:  What does this mean for the next election?  What does it mean for your poll numbers?  Is this good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans?  Who won the news cycle?    

"That's just how Washington is.  They can't help it.  They're obsessed with the sport of politics.  And so that's the environment in which elected officials are operating.  And you've seen all the pundits pontificating and talking over each other on the cable shows, and they're yelling and shouting.  They can't help themselves.  That's what they do.

"You want people in Washington to spend a little less time worrying about our jobs, a little more time worrying about your jobs," Obama said.

This isn't new, necessarily: Obama hit the same notes in his first public appearance after the Massachusetts Senate election that cost Democrats their Senate supermajority--a rally in Ohio. After today's remarks, it seems to be consistent fare for Obama's stump speeches.

Maybe pervasive anti-Washington sentiment has something to do with it, as poll data shows fewer than half of voters wanting to send their current representatives back to Congress for another term.