a demoralizing day

Here’s a world exclusive preview of what Mark Landler will (probably) write in the New York Times tomorrow:

“It was a demoralizing day for President Obama on his bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia, some of his lowest points, captured by our photographers, demonstrating just how much distance there now is between him and the people who once supported him.

From the moment he took to the stage in the morning to speak at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, it was evident how jaded and down he is, no spring in his step, no sign of the energy that he once displayed at these events:

Grim-faced and unsmiling….

….. his speech was so uninspiring it even prompted one member of the audience to start reading the book he’d brought with him just in case he was bored:

After the speech, the President displayed yet more of his professorial aloofness, failing to connect with his audience or show any human warmth:

It got worse later in the day when the President visited Bluestone High School in Skipwith, a group of teenagers (Jon Huntsman supporters, according to Mark Halperin) giving him an angry and hostile reception when he arrived:

There was a particularly ugly exchange with a student in pink:

…. which resulted in Secret Service having to step in:

On to Reidsville, N.C. and Brodnax, Virginia, where the President was confronted by several enraged women, two of them actually attempting to strangle him:

Stunned, the President ran for shelter in a Reidsville restaurant, where he hoped to find a warm and fuzzy reception, but there was to be no respite from the hostility, two enraged seniors confronting him, rather venomously:

The President, by now a broken man, left for Emporia, Virginia, where he gave another speech to a half-empty hall of largely unenthusiastic one-time supporters at Greensville County High School:

Once again, he ignored the issue that is, clearly, the most important to Americans – unemployment:

…. which might have explained the ugly incident that completed his day, when a young black man – possibly a Tavis Smiley and Cornel West fan – attempted to assault him by hitting his hand really hard:

Frankly, it’s hard to know how the President can recover from such a demoralizing day (#VoteMitt).”

so, who’s watching the freak show?

Live streaming at CNN

Live blog at Think Progress

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So, Republicans love executions (even of the innocent), they cheer the death of people without health insurance, they despise gay soldiers, and now they reckon the unemployed should blame themselves …..  wow.

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abc interview – preview

ABC

The full interview will air tonight on “Nightline” at 11:35 ET.

emporia, virginia

President Obama speaks at the Greensville County High School in Emporia, Va

day two, on the road – afternoon

President Obama talks on the phone as he greets people outside the Reid’s House Restaurant in Reidsville, N.C.

Pool report (thanks Jovie): …. For lunch on Tuesday, President Obama and his entourage stopped at Reid’s House Restaurant in Reidsville, N.C…..

….Outside of Reid’s, Obama emerged carrying a plastic bag stuffed with styrofoam food containers and worked the ropeline. He dispensed hugs, talked Panthers football, his shoes – and he talked to grandma.

Laketta Hussain, a 33 year-old from Eden, N.C. was on her cell phone as the president approached. Hussain told Obama she worked in weatherization and held out her phone, “My grandma says hi, too,” she told him.

“Hey grandma,” Obama said, taking the phone. He pulled it away to examine it. “This is an old style phone, though,” he said, holding it out for everyone to see. The pool report said it looked like a cordless phone. “I haven’t seen these in a while.”

“Alright. Grandma?” POTUS said, with the big phone back to his ear. Then he proceeded to talk to grandma.

“I appreciate you. How you been doing? You doing good? … OK. I’m doing good too. Except your granddaughter needs a new cell phone. She’s got one of these big old ones,” he said. “Ok. Alright. I’ll talk to you.” And he handed the phone back to Hussain, who told her grandma, “I had to do it.”

There were some excited women along the ropeline. “Oh my God,” one of them said to Obama, throwing her hands above her head. “I love you.”

“Well, you get a hug for that,” the president said. A woman he had passed by earlier with a handshake said she wanted a hug, too. “What about my hug?” she demanded.

Carl Schmuhl, 36, told Obama he works at Miller-Coors, a brewery in Eden. “You got some samples?” POTUS asked.

Briefing reporters in the pool van, White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed the obvious – Obama is “clearly enjoying himself,” he said.

President Obama greets diners at Reid’s House Restaurant in Reidsville

President Obama visits Bluestone High School in Skipwith, Virginia

Students react after one of them asked President Obama if he knew singer Justin Bieber during his visit to Bluestone High School in Skipwith.

“Do you know Justin Bieber?” a girl standing in front of him piped up.

Mr. Obama, amused, said he does know Mr. Bieber and he’s a “very nice young man.”

“But,” he added, “I think he’s got a girlfriend.”

President Obama greets people who waiting along the bus route in Brodnax, Virginia

harry hammers herb

day two, on the road – morning

President Obama goes to a gym to workout in Greensboro, North Carolina, October 18

President Obama talks with educators at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C.

Original video here

President Obama jogs to the stage before speaking at the YMCA at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C.

More soon

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Popsugar

who knew? the camera lies….

Mark Landler, writing in the New York Times today, in an article titled ‘Looking Toward 2012, Obama Finds North Carolina Less Receptive’, said that “Mr. Obama got a less warm and fuzzy reception from a lunch crowd at Countryside Barbeque in Marion”.

Really?

Crikey, it looks pretty “warm and fuzzy” to me.

Thanks LOL

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McDowell News: President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Marion on Monday, where he ordered lunch from Countryside Barbeque and had his photo made with lots of excited patrons ….

….. He met with Councilman Lloyd Cuthbertson, Councilwoman Juanita Doggett, City Manager Bob Boyette and other folks. He also took time to have his picture made with as many people as possible….

“He was very personable and took time to talk to everybody,” said Cuthbertson. “He was interested in what people had to tell them. It is an honor to meet the president of the United States, regardless of one’s political affiliation. This opportunity does not happen every day …. We should be proud he chose to stop in Marion of all places between Asheville and his next scheduled visit.”

…. Joyce Hawkins said she joked with the president and asked him if we would pay for everybody’s lunch. Obama told her that he would pay for her lunch and the three others at her table. When it came time for Hawkins and her group to leave, the wait staff told them that sure enough, the president of the United States had paid for their meals. And for her service, Obama left Cable an $8 tip.

Even though it lasted around an hour, the presidential visit may be the most memorable event at Countryside Barbeque. “It’s pretty exciting stuff,” said Noyes.

Full article here

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Interesting opening line from an Atlantic Review article a few years back: “The New York Times’ Germany correspondent Mark Landler often exaggerates and is sometimes just wrong.” Indeed.

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From yesterday:

Finally finds a warm crowd? Yep, the people of North Carolina had been frosty all day:

President Barack Obama waves to people gathered along a road in Boone, N.C., during his three-day American Jobs Act bus tour, Oct. 17. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Citizen Times

Asheville Regional Airport in Fletcher, N.C.

Boone, N.C.

Original video here

West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, North Carolina

**** You can tweet Landler here ****

rise and shine

President Barack Obama waves to people gathered along a road in Boone, N.C., during his three-day American Jobs Act bus tour, Oct. 17. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Yesterday’s speeches:

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White House live

CNN live streaming

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Steve Benen: At an event in North Carolina yesterday, President Obama talked up the next phase in the fight over job creation. We knew Dems would start to move on individual provisions within the American Jobs Act, and yesterday, we learned which component would go first.

…. “So this week I’m going to ask members of Congress to vote on one component of the plan, which is whether we should put hundreds of thousands of teachers back in the classroom, and cops back on the street, and firefighters back to work….”

…. Why are Dems pursuing this first? It may have something to do with the idea’s overwhelming popularity – A whopping 75% supported the measure in a CNN poll …. even 63% of Republicans approve of the spending.

…. the total number of Republican lawmakers in either chamber willing to support the teachers/first responders jobs bill – or even allow a vote on the bill – is currently zero, despite overwhelming support from the American mainstream.

Full post here

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Greg Sargent: ‘Moderate’ Dems may break with Obama on pieces of jobs bill: With the Senate set to vote on pieces of the jobs bill, Senators Ben Nelson and Jon Tester, both of whom voted against the overall proposal, may actually vote against the $35 billion in state aid to avert teacher and first-responder layoffs.

Their objection: The tax hikes on the rich that are supported by big majorities, including among independents and moderates. As always, these “moderates” and “centrists” are not willing to support economic solutions that actually are moderate and centrist – and as a result, they may give more ammo to Republicans to claim that opposition to Obama’s proposals is “bipartisan.”

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I ♥ Barney:

Original (and much better quality!) video here

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McClatchy: Even as protests over its political influence grow louder, Wall Street is one of the leading sources of money so far in the 2012 race for the White House. Not surprisingly, the biggest beneficiary has been Republican hopeful Mitt Romney…

…. Romney has attracted $7.5 million from the financial community … That’s nearly twice as much as President Barack Obama has received from it, and almost a quarter of the $32 million that Romney’s campaign has taken in overall.

…. Romney is the top recipient of campaign cash from employees of the five biggest Wall Street banks. Goldman Sachs gave the most — $352,200…. The other banks were Morgan Stanley ($184,800), Bank of America ($112,500), JP Morgan Chase & Co. ($107,250) and Citigroup Inc. ($56,550).

A spokesman for the Romney campaign could not be reached for comment.

… Obama had raised about $3.9 million in Wall Street contributions as of the end of September (just over 4 percent of his overall haul so far of $89 million, which dwarfs the GOP field).

Full post here

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Caption: A waxwork figure of George Clooney on display at Madame Tussauds in London is posed alongside a waxwork of US president Barack Obama….

Jeez, looks like the real George to me. The President? Not so much. 😕

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Thank You Loriah!