The Obama camp said that the commander in chief can “walk and chew gum at the same time,” running the country while launching into an even heavier campaign schedule.
The president has four days of fundraising around the country this week and just one day of meetings at the White House.
En route to Texas for a pair of fundraisers, reporters aboard Air Force One asked if that was going to be the normal schedule from here on out and if that left enough time for governing.
“I don’t know the schedule weeks out from now. We are three and a half months from the election,” said campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “While he is campaigning, he is reading briefing books, he is doing calls, he is having meetings with his advisers. And that’s something — he can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Meanwhile, former Vice President Dick Cheney was meeting with Republicans on the Hill today to help Congress avert drastic defense cuts coming in the sequestration.
“It does seem odd to me, however, that House Republicans would be taking budget advice from somebody who famously declared that ‘deficits don’t matter,'” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
Obama heads to swing-state Florida on Thursday and Friday.
“And, oftentimes, that does impact his governing — when he hears from people on concerns they have about small businesses — yesterday, he heard from somebody whose father needed to get a job and he talked about infrastructure. We had a conversation this morning about the drought and what we can do more on the drought,” said Psaki. “And those are all conversations he is having while he’s out on the campaign trail, meeting with the American people. And he does take them back and discuss with his advisers as well.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member