New Years resolutions for Obama - from Karl Rove
Posted: December 31st, 2009 05:58 PM ET
Rove has some New Year's resolutions for Obama.
(CNN) - If President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, or other members of the administration are having any trouble coming up with some New Year's resolutions for 2010, former top Bush aide Karl Rove is eager to help.
Writing in his weekly Wall Street Journal column Thursday, Rove offers a bevy of goals to the president himself, the vice president, and his top aides.
To the president - Rove says Obama needs to be more clear in what he is thinking - ensuring he doesn't leave a diverse group of people with the impression the president agrees with all of them - and must make sure to "mean what he says:"
Mr. Obama should work on his habit of leaving a room of people with deeply divided opinions thinking he agrees with all of them. That leads to disagreements over essential issues, like the meaning of his pledge to begin withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2011 and the nature of the new military mission there.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/31/new-years-resolutions-for-obama-from-karl-rove/To the vice president - Rove says Biden should speak publicly less:
Every time he opens his mouth, the West Wing staff uses him to make the president look good by comparison.
To the president's staff - Rove says they should resolve to orchestrate a few less 'historic moments' and keep the president off TV more.
Why not resolve to have a few less "historic" moments? How many can one president really have, anyway? A little more grace toward his predecessor would help him, as would less TV time. He is wearing out his welcome and his speechwriters—judging by the quality of their work lately.
To White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers - Rove says she needs to keep an eye on those guest lists:
should take a lead from Santa Clause and make her list and check it twice . . . at the White House gates.