Tuesday, October 20, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Obama Has Attended Five Fundraisers Since McChrystal Made His Request

Gen. Stanley McChrystal submitted his request for additional troops in Afghanistan on August 31.

Here are some of the things President Obama has done since then:

* Deliver remarks at a fundraiser for Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate in New York's 23rd Congressional District, and then deliver remarks at a fundraiser to benefit the DNC at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

* Deliver remarks at a DNC fundraising dinner and reception at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

* Deliver remarks at an event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel celebrating the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

* Deliver remarks at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner at the Washington Convention Center.

* Attend "In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina," a concert celebrating Hispanic musical heritage on the South Lawn.

* Host a picnic for United States Secret Service members and their families on the South Lawn.

* Host an event for local middle-school students to stargaze and conduct hands-on experiments with astronomers.

* Deliver remarks at event with doctors from across the country in the Rose Garden.

* Fly to Copenhagen to pitch Chicago’s Olympics bid (and meet with McChrystal while he was there).

* Deliver remarks at a fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association at the St. Regis Hotel.

* Deliver remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative at the Sheraton Hotel.

* Hold a rally on health-insurance reform at the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland in College Park.

* Host a viewing of a portion of the documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" in the White House movie theater.

* Host an event on the South Lawn with the White House Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport, Chicago2016, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to promote Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

* Deliver remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 32nd Annual Awards Gala at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

* Deliver remarks to the AFL-CIO Convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

* Attend and deliver remarks at a fundraising event and reception for Sen. Arlen Specter at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

* Welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to honor them for their 2009 Stanley Cup championship victory.

* Meet with the Professional Golf Association of American champions.

* Host a dinner celebrating Ramadan and highlight the contributions of American Muslims in the State Dining Room.

Now, many of these are worthwhile events and/or standard duties of the president. And on many days since August 31, Obama has met with various members of his cabinet, the military, and leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss Afghanistan.

But all those meetings haven't yet generated a decision, and now we're told that there's really no sense of a deadline of when this decision has to be reached. Meanwhile, the president will be attending more fundraisers in the coming days, one in Boston on Friday and at least one in Florida early next week.

A common refrain these days is that President Obama needs to be reminded that it's time to stop campaigning and time to start governing. This presumes he has any interest in the latter, or an ability to cease the former.

10/20 12:06 PMShare