The preezy of the United Steezy is making me queasy.
I'm not troubled by President Obama's slow jam with Jimmy Fallon, who dubbed the commander in chief "preezy" during Obama's appearance on late-night TV. No, preezy is making me queasy because his nonstop campaigning is looking, well, sleazy — and his ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have killed Osama bin Laden is just the beginning of it.
In a political culture that long ago surrendered to the permanent campaign, Obama has managed to take things to a new level. According to statistics compiled for a book to be published this summer, the president has already set a record for total first-term fundraisers — 191 — and that's only through March 6. Measured in terms of events that benefit his re-election bid, Obama's total (inflated in part by relaxed fundraising rules) exceeds the combined total of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
It's not just the gatherings officially categorized as campaign events. To a greater extent than his predecessors, Obama has used the trappings of his office to promote his re-election prospects even while handling taxpayer-funded business.
According to the same book, "The Rise of the President's Permanent Campaign," by Naval Academy political scientist Brendan Doherty, Obama was the first president in at least 32 years to visit all of the battleground states during his first year in office. He has kept that pace, devoting nearly half of his travel to 15 swing states that account for just over a third of the population.
The election is still six months away, but it's increasingly difficult to distinguish Obama's political events from the official ones.
It's Hard To Tell Obama's Political Events From The Official Ones
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Tue May 1, 2012 9:56 PM

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