Reuters signs off on the walk-chew-gum meme

Written by Eric Boehlert

Published

In an "analysis" piece, the wire service is quite concerned that the White House is trying to do too much. These two paragraphs are particularly painful:

Last week the White House spent some time accusing conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh of being leader of the Republican Party.

But Obama, together with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House economic guru Lawrence Summers and others have so far failed to explain how they plan to rescue American banks, some of which are teetering on the brink of collapse.

Love the “but,” don't you? Like there's even the slightest connection between the two topics. “The White House” spent how long commenting on Rush Limbaugh last week? Maybe four minutes, tops. Yet Reuters suggests the administration was so busy talking about Limbaugh it didn't have time to fix the U.S.'s faltering banking system. I'm guessing there are other more complex (i.e. intelligent) reasons that albatross hasn't been lifted yet, having nothing to do with Limbaugh.

The other dud in the piece, headlined “Vaunted Obama message machine is off-key,” was when Reuters claimed Obama had “struggled” with his communications. But yes, Reuters noted the new president is enjoying sky high approval ratings:

Obama is benefiting from high popular support. Polls give him a 60 percent approval rating and experts say voters seem willing to give him time to get his sea legs.

So according to Reuters, Obama's messaging is way off, yet he's immensely popular. We're guessing the Bush White House wishes it had had that kind of message problem.

UPDATE: ABC's Jake Tapper dutifully echoes the walk-chew-gum meme put forward by the GOP. Writes Tapper:

But while the administration says the issues Obama faces, particularly the economy, need swift action, his critics warn he may be doing too much too soon.

“His critics”? Two Republican senators. Because for the Beltway press, any GOP critique of Obama constitutes news and must be documented. Period.

UPDATE: ABC's The Note actually uses the hackneyed phrase “walk and chew gum,” here.