Do As I Say, Not As I Do

There’s a startling quote in Richard Wolffe’s new book, Renegade: The Making of a President, excerpted on the Huffington Post today.

After Hillary Clinton had requested President Obama’s help in retiring her campaign debt, Wolffe quotes Obama as saying, “I’m not willing to go out in these difficult economic times to do a flashy fundraiser in California.”

So where was President Obama on Wednesday evening? California, of course! Beverly Hills, that is. Swimming pools and movie stars. And did the president ever have flashy movie stars present — Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg were among those who spent upwards of the $30,000 per couple to mingle with President Obama at the posh Beverly Hilton, raising $3-4 million for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

With Memorial Day golf games and Broadway shows, perhaps the White House was unaware of the fact that California is facing economic crisis and a budget meltdown, which led California Democratic Rep. Jim Costa, who endorsed Obama in the primaries, to complain that Obama was hobnobbing with the rich and famous, again, instead of showing empathy for hard-hit places like Costa’s Central Valley district, where unemployment can hit 20 percent.

Another place hit with — to use the president’s words — “difficult economic times” is Las Vegas. Las Vegas’s economic woes were exacerbated by Obama himself when he sought to shame companies for having conventions in Las Vegas because, you know, it sends a bad message. So where was President Obama on Tuesday evening? Caesar’s Palace! On the Las Vegas Strip to raise money for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Obama bragged about his presidential suite and was serenaded by Sheryl Crow and Bette Midler.

The media love Obama. They’ve told us as much. Heck, even Obama has told us as much. So it’s unlikely that short of announcing a “Motown Revue” DNC fundraiser in Detroit the same week the government has taken over General Motors, it’s hard to see how President Obama gets called to the carpet on this, even if he essentially sends a message of “Do as I say, not as I do.”