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On Meet the Press yesterday, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley denied that the nation's top politician is thinking about his reelection campaign:
White House chief of staff Bill Daley said on Sunday President Barack Obama isn’t concerned about the politics of 2012. “This is a guy that doesn’t look at politics as left, center, whatever,” he said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
"This president doesn’t think this way,” Daley added. Pointing to Obama’s achievements over the past two years, Daley said his focus has always been on the economy. “They’ve been center at times, people can interpret them as however they want,” he said.While I doubt this is true -- again, I'd be shocked if the country's top politician isn't thinking about politics -- the two aren't mutually exclusive. Good economic performance (or at least, relatively good economic performance) is integral to Obama's reelection chances. As such, the president's work on the economy is inherently about politics, whether he realizes it or not.
Relatedly, I'm always annoyed when the White House denies the presidents interest in politics. To become president and succeed at the job, you have to be an excellent politician (it's no coincidence that the worst presidents have been mediocre politicians). It might sound crass to "serious-minded" pundits, but yes, Obama is thinking about politics. It's his job, and he's very good at it.
