President Barack Obama will hold his first press conference on Wednesday since winning reelection — and his first extended question-and-answer session with the White House press corps since June.
Obama is sure to face questions about the scandal that prompted CIA Director David Petraeus to resign in disgrace and has now seemingly ensnared the top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen. (The president's likely tack: Reaffirm his faith in Allen's war-fighting abilities, while pointing to the ongoing investigation as a reason not to comment further).
He will also certainly be asked about his strategy in negotiations with Republicans over the so-called fiscal cliff. (The president's likely tack: Reaffirm his longstanding call for raising taxes on the top 2 percent of American earners while insisting he seeks a compromise with his political foes. If pressed on the details, Obama may fall back on the argument that he does not want to negotiate from the podium).
The president may also be quizzed about the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Conservatives have charged that the Administration played down the role of extremists in carrying out the assault in order to minimize the potential political fallout shortly before the election. Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte (all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee) planned to hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. ET to discuss the attack. (The president's likely tack: Reaffirm that no one wants to get to the bottom of the issues revealed by the assault more than he does, while pointing to ongoing investigations by the FBI and the State Department to say he cannot discuss the details.)
Reporters may also ask about issues like:
- American policy in Asia -- the president heads there late this week — notably focusing on China;
- The standoff over Iran's nuclear program;
- The war in Afghanistan, separate from Allen's troubles;
- Europe's financial crisis, and its potential impact on already sluggish growth in the United States;
- His big agenda items for his second term: Immigration reform? Education reform?
(I will be covering the press conference but will not be attending it. Apart from these questions, I would be most interested to know what will happen to the political juggernaut that was the Obama reelection campaign. Will it become a grassroots lobbying force, as it did in early 2009? Will he hand control over to the Democratic National Committee? What will happen to their mailing lists? The data they collected about voters?)
Obama ducked press conferences, which aides regard as high-risk, low-reward endeavors, in the final stretch of the 2012 campaign. (Remember "the private sector is doing fine"? That was at an abbreviated question-and-answer session at the White House.) He skipped the traditional press conference right after the election — but in doing so scheduled this one for after the Petraeus story broke.
Complaining about the lack of presidential press conferences is a partisan ritual. A better complaint is that reporters too often settle for replies where answers are called for, but the sad truth is that politicians tend to answer the questions they wish they had been asked. Talented communications aides can game out what questions will be asked -- and even which reporters will ask them -- with a look at the day's headlines and by studying the questions journalists have asked at briefings or in their articles.
Obama holds first press conference since reelection
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Obama holds first press conference since reelection
