At 12:30 President Obama will hold his first press conference in the Rose garden. (NOTE: Presser was moved to WH Briefing Room) The Corsair will be live tweeting it (Check it out here). The presser will probably deal mostly with Iran and the health care overhaul which suffered last week amidst bleak Congressional Budget Office numbers on the Kennedy Bill. This is Obama's first press conference using the bully pulpit as his approval ratings steady. From realClearPolitics: "The new ABC News/Washington Post poll has Obama's approval rating at 65 percent, down 4 points from April. Now 31 disapprove. On specific issues, he polls the worst on handling the deficit (48/48) and the auto bailouts (45/50)."
Iran is a tough sell for the President because he is in the unenviable position of trying to explain to the Twitterized American public why cautious language is a good thing on Iran. Obama, who touted "Change" in the general election, now finds himself in the Realist orbit, praised by Henry Kissinger. Meanwhile, as those approval numbers slowly fall, his neoconservative opposition, attack the President as overcautious. It is an argument that also appeals to Progressives on the web.
Health Care will be a tougher sell for the President. The First lady, telegraphing the importance of the subject, made her case on ABC's Good Morning America this morning. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is testing the waters for 2012, visiting DC, appearing with House Republican leaders at an afternoon press conference parallel to the President's presser, to discuss -- wait for it -- health care.
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