The reporter attempted to trip Jen Psaki with the offhanded implication that Biden is responsible for high gas prices and unconcern for the poor.
Jen Psaki turns the question
I follow the White House press conference daily. Watching Jen Psaki navigate, answer, and even spin the press (mostly those on the Right but every so often a bit disingenuous with all) is an art form. One knows she is good because she does it so effortlessly. I would hate it if she were working on the side of evil.
This exchange was an important one that every Democrat and Progressive should mimic. It is clear the reporter had a bias, and she was ready for the question.
The reporter started his question by implying that President Biden was responsible for the hike in gas prices and then attempted to garner favor with the masses by pointing out said increases would be hard on the poor.
As soon as the reporter made the association, Psaki interrupted him to point out that Republican policy to fund infrastructure through user fees will hurt the poor as they purchase their gasoline.
Psaki did not stop there as she pointed out that the American Rescue Plan continues to provide relief to Americans. That relief does offset price increases.
What Jen did not say could have been immediately inferred. After all, Republican governors across the country are starting to deny the federal unemployment compensation from the American Rescue Plan. In effect, what Biden giveth, the Republicans taketh away.
Psaki understands that, especially in these times, she must use every opportunity she gets to counter the false narratives coming from the Right. Doing so slows down, eventually stops, and then reverses the metastasis of the Republican fraud.
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Egberto, excellent points about the superior handling of the Press by Jen Psaki. In politics communication is absolutely the key.
Please allow a rant here you probably have heard from me before: Democratic tactical messaging incompetence.
I am tired of Progressive Democrats ignoring rural areas in Texas. There is a timely opportunity RIGHT NOW, which Progressives AND everyone else to the left of the GOP Huns is failing to see in our state.
I constantly hear that it is a total waste of time for us to go after rural voters in Texas–that they will NEVER CHANGE OR COME ALONG WITH US. That is bs. And we don’t need every single one of them. Just enough to flip the state.
Fact is, some basic needs in life are common and when those common needs are not being met by the government in potentially life and death matters, and even hitting EVERYONE’S WALLETS where it hurts, NO ONE except the totally heartless and very, very wealthy, will put up with it. Unless they forget about the problem and move on. Here is the concept:
Politics is the art of persuasion. It is sales and marketing.
People do not buy (anything, including buying into a candidate’s ideas) based on facts.
They buy based on emotion.
The greatest, most powerful emotion is fear.
The GOP has use fear to win elections and to try to hold on to power for 70 years.
Now. . .think back to February, 2021. What did EVERY TEXAN get hit with? The “Icepocalypse”. It cost ranchers a LOT of money. My wife broke her foot slipping on ice. Some people FROZE TO DEATH. It was BAD.
And it was Greg Abbott and the GOP’s fault in this state. They screwed over EVERYBODY that didn’t have a power generator at home or at the office. Which is almost everyone.
And where is the constant, incessant media barrage of powerful, frightening messaging about how awful it was, whose fault it was, and how Abbott and the Lege have done NOTHING, NADA, ZIP to see that it never happens again. NOTHING. Voters are being allowed to “sit in the dark” about what happened, why, whose fault it was, and the fact that nothing effective and realistic is being to prevent it from happening again.
Texas is going to have 38 PLUS electoral votes. That oughta get EVERY FRIGGIN’ person to the center and left of center on the political spectrum, salivating at winning Texas. It oughta be enough to motivate the Democrats to spend BIGTIME NOW on a heavy tv, radio, newspaper, bumper stickers, social media campaign reminding the public what happened, whose fault it was, who remains in control, and what they’ve done to prevent it from ever happening again. Again, it is a scary issue that all Texans except tightwad electricity plant and gas pipeline investors are scared to death about. At least until they forget about it and get manipulated by the GOP into being scared about something else.
Is this a case of Democrats “never missing a chance to miss a chance”? I emphatically submit YES!
And to the excuse of “we don’t have the money”–then friggin’ FIND it. Because if it is what it takes to flip Texas electoral votes, it is the whole ball game. If enough rural votes had been flipped 2 years ago, Beto O’Rourke would be our US Senator, not Ted Cruz.
This ain’t rocket science.
This is what politics is about, pure and simple and ruthless. A game Democrats do not understand and are not effectively and ruthlessly playing.