Friday, September 28, 2012

If not for sports champions and terrorists, President Obama’s public schedule for September would be nearly empty of official events, as he devoted most of his time to campaigning for re-election

Obama focuses on campaigning, fundraising, Official presidential duties are few and far between - Dave Boyer/Washington Times

On Sept. 6, Mr. Obama accepted the Democratic Party’s renomination in Charlotte, N.C. In the 21 days since then, the president has had a total of 14 events on his White House schedule, not including regular daily briefings and occasional lunches with Vice President Joseph R. Biden.

In the same period, Mr. Obama’s other two “jobs” — campaigner and fundraiser — crowded out his White House schedule. As the first incumbent president to forgo public financing, Mr. Obama has held 24 campaign events this month, from Colorado to New Hampshire, from rallying auto workers to raising millions of dollars with pop diva Beyonce.

Six of the president’s official events were the result of terrorism — four on Sept. 11 to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and to pay respect to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He also held two events, on Sept. 11 and Sept. 14, in response to the deaths of four Americans in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens....