Robert Gibbs gave an interview to The Hill in which he takes some shots at the left:
The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”
As Greg Sargent points out, Obama campaigned on a public option, ala “Canadian healthcare”. You think the President’s mouthpiece would realize that.
But there’s a much deeper problem here. We are 80 some days away from the midterms and polls are showing the enthusiasm on the left is very low. Is this how the White House plans on increasing enthusiasm, by insulting the base? What it’s going to do is piss some of the stronger voices on the left off enough that they encourage people to just stay home in November.
So how can the President fix this? It’s time to show that he listens to his base. He needs to replace Gibbs and issue a statement that Gibbs was NOT speaking on behalf of the White House. Of course none of that will happen and all that has happened now is that Gibbs has helped the Republicans out big time. Smooth move slick!