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Turning point for the Obamas?
By: Julie Mason
Examiner White House Correspondent
06/10/09 2:51 PM EDT
A Marie Antoinette misstep -- or just a lucky family enjoying the perks? (ap)
If the Obamas thought taking their popular, photogenic girls on vacation to Paris and London would inoculate them from criticism, they may have miscalculated. Hard on the heels of their infamous date night to New York, the overseas trip may prove a turning point in public opinion about the first couple.
On CNBC this morning, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was taking umbrage at Obama's exhortation over the weekend for lawmakers to get cracking on health care reform. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, took to tweeting rather irritably on Twitter about the matter.
"We''re on schedule, and he knew that," Grassley told Larry Kudlow. "And while he was sightseeing in Paris, my staff, Senator Baucus' staff were meeting each day of the weekend to work out compromises. And you know, they consult us from time to time, so we're all engaged, and he knew that. And I thought it was a cheap shot on his part."
Yes -- Grassley is a Republican. But members of Congress tend to be zealous, enthusiastic jet-setters. When they start criticizing the president for jet-setting, there's definitely a problem.
There wasn't much of an issue about the Obamas' date night two weeks ago -- but subsequent refusal by the White House to come clean about the cost of the trip rankled the White House press corps, among others, who raised the issue of Obama's promises for transparency and accountability.
Michelle Obama, more popular than the president, took a risk when she jetted off on Friday for a European vacation with Sasha and Malia to Paris and London. The first family is much beloved -- but millions of Americans are out of work and many more are cutting back this year on family vacations.
"The trip to France is probably just a mother providing her children an opportunity to do and see things," said Cindy Rugeley, a political scientist at Texas Tech University. "You know, the kind of thing any mother wants for her children."
Rugeley added, "The symbolism, however, can be pretty bad. Not every mother can afford to take their children on weeklong vacations to France where they join their husbands on business trips. It certainly can conjuncture up images contrary to the J. Crew clad common woman."
Obama's poll numbers are starting to slip -- a natural progression in the presidency. But when we look back and track the downward trajectory and when it started, this past week and the Obamas' high-flying ways, may well prove to have been the starting point.
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