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This morning, Politico's Mike Allen gave us a slice of an upcoming Rolling Stone article in which Obama explained why kids like him over Romney. Within hours, Obama adviser David Pfeiffer was on the trail, giving the glossed-over version to reporters. Here is what Pfeiffer had to work with, as Douglas Brinkley writes in Rolling Stone and Allen excerpts.
We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview … on the morning of October 11th. … As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. … [S]he said, "Tell him: You can do it." Obama grinned. … "You know, kids have good instincts," Obama offered. "They look at the other guy and say, 'Well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.'"
This plain vulgarity coming from the commander in chief about, ostensibly, his opponent, Mitt Romney, sort of took the political Twitterverse by storm.
Mr. Pfeiffer, it's time to gaggle with reporters on the trail in Virginia, you're up! Can you translate b.s. into political flackery b.s.?
The president is someone who says what he means and does what he says and Gov. Romney's answers in the debates on domestic issues and foreign policy raise real questions about that.
What a save! Pfeiffer, like all his fellow flacks, publicists, advisers, and communication managers, has been working very, very hard to spin gaffes into political gold over the past few months. In a little over a week these folks will be able to relax and look back ... at least, until 2016. But for now, it's on. In their honor, we've highlighted the best of their work over the past few days of mopping up their candidate's spills, shills, and attacks.
