WALL STREET JOURNAL — Barack Obama’s unflappability was a selling point on the 2008 campaign trail, with aides proudly donning T-shirts reading, “No Drama Obama.”
But as much of an asset as it was for the candidate, Mr. Obama’s steady-as-she-goes approach to life can cause problems as president.
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This conflict was on full display Thursday, as Mr. Obama decided to stick to his regular schedule amid news reports of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crash in Ukraine that killed nearly 300 people. That decision generated a split-screen aspect to Mr. Obama’s day, as TV networks broke into regular programming to broadcast pictures of smoldering plane wreckage while the president appeared to go about his regular business.
Mr. Obama first learned of the crash Thursday morning, and then took Air Force One to Delaware to give a routine speech on transportation infrastructure. Arriving there, he stopped first for lunch at the Charcoal Pit restaurant near Wilmington. “Biden told me the burgers are pretty good,” he said, in reference to his vice president, whose home state is Delaware. At the Charcoal Pit, he had lunch with a woman who had written him a letter laying out her troubles as a single mother. It’s all part of a larger strategy on Mr. Obama’s part to leave Washington when he can, mix it up with everyday people and draw attention to his domestic policy goals.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
