It’s an age-old perception. The Democrats aren’t tough enough in their rhetoric or their actions. And in the face of terrorist threats and devastating disasters, many people want a leader who is ready to … well … kick ass. President Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf has generated a lot of criticism about his approach as being too calm, cool and collected. So when he told the “Today” show’s Matt Lauer that he was in the region a month ago talking to local fishermen and experts to get answers that would help him determine “whose ass to kick,” it created quite the buzz. I even saw one person on Facebook suggest that he sounded like our former president.
What most people seemed to miss is the lead-in from Matt Lauer that lead to this tough talk from our President. He was talking about the critics and said people feel this isn’t the time for him to meet with advisors. He said they feel he should spend more time in the Gulf and, “…I never thought I’d be saying this to a president, but kick some butt.” When Obama responded, he used “ass” instead of “butt.”
Much of the buzz was around how Obama is finally getting tough and whether it’s appropriate, genuine, etc. or just the work of his speech writers. Again, no one seemed to factor in that he was set up to give that quote. When we prepare spokespeople, we counsel them to be aware of “quote trapping.” Sometimes journalists will use the language they want you to use in an effort to get a specific quote. In this case, Obama gave Lauer what he wanted and took it one step further. From there, it took on a life all its own.