Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event, Tampa, FL

Centennial Park
Tampa, Florida

9:02 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  How's it going, Tampa?  (Applause.)  Are you fired up?  (Applause.)  Are you ready to go?  (Applause.) 

Well, thank you so -- can everybody please give Laura a big round of applause for that great introduction?  (Applause.)  We've also got with us here Congresswoman Kathy Castor in the house.  (Applause.)  Mayor Bob Buckhorn.  (Applause.)  My friend and your former governor, Charlie Crist.  (Applause.) 

So good morning, Tampa. 

AUDIENCE:  Good morning!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thanks for waking up early.  (Applause.) 

You know, we are right in the middle of our 48-hour fly-around campaign extravaganza.  (Applause.)  We are pulling -- we pulled an all-nighter last night.  We just came from Iowa, Nevada, Colorado.  We're going to Virginia and Ohio.  (Applause.) I'm going to stop in Chicago.  I'm going to do some early voting in Chicago.  (Applause.) 

I can't tell you who I'm voting for -- it's a secret ballot. (Laughter.)  But Michelle says she voted for me.  (Applause.)  We can vote early in Illinois, just like you can vote right now in Florida.  So I've come to Florida today to ask you for your vote. (Applause.)  I've come to ask you to help me keep moving America forward.  (Applause.) 

And you notice, my voice is getting a little hoarse.  But I'm just going to keep on -- just going to keep on keeping on -- (applause) -- until every single person out there who needs to vote is going to go vote.  (Applause.)  Because the stakes are just so high, Florida.

You've heard now three debates; you've seen months of campaigning, way too many TV ads.  I know you guys are sick of the TV ads. 

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  Except the ones that I'm in.  (Applause.)  Maybe even those, too.  (Laughter.)  But you've also had a chance to see the two candidates and the two perspectives.  You've heard Governor Romney's sales pitch.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Don't boo -- vote.  (Applause.) 

He's been running around saying he's got a five-point plan for the economy -- except it turns out that it's just a one-point plan -- a sketchy deal that says folks at the very top get to play by a different set of rules than you do.  They get to pay a lower tax rate.  They outsource jobs.  They want to roll back Wall Street reform.  That was his philosophy in the boardroom; that was his philosophy as a governor.  And if it sounds familiar, it's because that's the philosophy that created a Great Recession. 

We tried that in the last decade, and it didn’t work.  It led to falling incomes and the slowest job growth in half a century, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And we've been working hard for four years to clean it up, to clean up the mess that got left behind.  (Applause.) 

And Governor Romney I think knows this -- he knows his plan isn’t any different than the policies that got us into the mess. So in the final weeks of this election, he's counting on you forgetting that his policies aren't going to work.  He's hoping that you won't remember and you'll come down with a case of what we call --

AUDIENCE:  Romnesia!

THE PRESIDENT:  -- Romnesia.  (Applause.)  He's hoping you won't remember that his economic plan is likely to create jobs in China, not America -- because it rewards companies that ship jobs overseas.  He's hoping you won't remember he wants to give millionaires and billionaires a $250,000 tax cut, because the only way he can pay for it is by either blowing up the deficit or making middle-class families pay more in taxes.  He’s hoping you’re going to come down with a severe case of Romnesia just before you cast your ballot.  (Applause.) 

But, Tampa, I want you to know this.  If you’re starting to get a temperature -- your ears are ringing, your eyes are blurry -- you’re showing symptoms, you can’t remember what you just said last week -- (laughter) -- if you start thinking that maybe Governor Romney wanted to save the auto industry even though he wrote an op-ed saying "let Detroit go bankrupt" -- if there’s a sudden fuzziness when it comes to the policies on your website, don’t worry, because this is a curable condition -- (laughter) -- and Obamacare covers preexisting condition.  (Applause.)  We can make you well.  There’s a cure.  You just have to vote.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, Tampa, we joke about Romnesia, but all of this speaks to something that’s really important in this election and that is the issue of trust.  When you elect a President, you’re counting on somebody you can trust to fight for you, who you can trust to do what they say they’re going to do, who can trust -- that you can trust to make sure that when something unexpected happens, he or she is going to be thinking about your families, your future.  Trust matters.  And, Florida, you know me.  You know I say what I mean and I mean what I say.  (Applause.)

We haven’t finished all the work that we set out to do in 2008.  But every single day when I set foot in that Oval Office, I’m thinking about you.  I’m fighting for your families.  And with your help, I’ve kept the commitments that I made.  I told you I’d end the war in Iraq -- I did.  (Applause.)  I said we’d transition out of Afghanistan -- and we are.  (Applause.)  I said we’d go after those who actually attacked us on 9/11 -- al Qaeda is on the path to defeat; Osama bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)  A new tower is rising over the New York skyline.  Our heroes are coming home.  I’ve kept those promises.  (Applause.)

I promised to cut taxes for middle-class families -- and we have.  (Applause.)  I promised to cut taxes for small businesses -- and we have.  (Applause.)  I promised to end Wall Street taxpayer-funded bailouts -- we have.  (Applause.)  I promised to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” so anybody can serve in our military regardless of who they love -- I have.  (Applause.)  I promised that we would pass health care reform, so nobody goes bankrupt when they get sick -- we have.  (Applause.)  I promised to preserve Medicare -- we have.  (Applause.)  I bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and we saved an auto industry that is resurgent.  (Applause.)

On issue after issue, we’re moving forward.  We lost 9 million jobs in the Great Recession, but over the last 31 months our businesses have added more than 5 million new jobs.  Unemployment is falling.  Manufacturing is coming back.  Our assembly lines are humming again.  We’ve got a long way to go but, Florida, we’ve come too far to turn back now.  (Applause.)  We can’t afford to go back to the same policies that got us into the mess.  We’ve got to stick with the policies that are getting us out of the mess.  (Applause.)  And that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, I’ve got a plan that will actually create jobs, a plan that will actually create middle-class security.  And unlike Mitt Romney, I’m proud to talk about that plan -- (applause) -- because the math actually adds up.  (Laughter.)

I want you all to take a look at it.  You can go to BarackObama/com/plans.  And I want you to share those plans with your friends and neighbors and coworkers.  There are still people out there who are trying to make up their minds.  There might even be some here who are trying to make up their minds, maybe.  No, no, maybe your girlfriend said you’ve got to come.  (Laughter.)  She’s smart enough, she’s already voting for Obama, but you need some persuading.  (Applause.)

So I ask you to compare my plan to Governor Romney’s plan.  See which plan -- where’s my plan -- oh, it dropped -- (laughter) -- I couldn’t find my plan.  There it is.  (Applause.)  Now, this is the same plan that’s on the website.  And you should look and see which plan is better for you.  It’s got details in here about how we can move the country forward.

First, I want to end tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas, give them to companies that are investing and creating jobs right here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)

Number two, I want to cut our oil imports in half by 2020 so we control more of our own energy.  Right here in Florida, we are seeing solar and other new sources of energy.  We’ve doubled clean energy in addition to increasing oil and natural gas production.  Today, we are less dependent on oil from foreign sources than any time in the last two decades.  (Applause.) 

And by the way, we’re also increasing fuel standards on cars and trucks so you’ll go twice as far on a gallon of gas.  (Applause.)  I want to build on that progress.  I don’t want fuel-efficient cars and long-lasting batteries and wind turbines and solar panels made in China.  I want them made right here in Florida.  (Applause.)  I want them made right here in the United States with U.S. workers.  (Applause.)

Third, I want to make it a national mission to educate our kids and train our workers better than anybody else on Earth.  (Applause.)  I want to recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers.  I want to train 2 million workers at community colleges for the skills that businesses are hiring for right now. I want to work with our colleges to keep tuition low -- (applause) -- so that our young people aren’t burdened with debt. We can do that.

Number four, I want to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion, but I want to do it in a balanced way.  We’ll cut out spending we don’t need, but I’m going to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more so we can invest in the research and technology and infrastructure that keeps new jobs and businesses coming to America.  And I will never, under the guise of reducing the deficit, turn Medicare into a voucher -- (applause) -- because Americans shouldn’t have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.  (Applause.)

And by the way, while we’re at it, as we saw again this week, I don’t think any politician in Washington -- most of whom are male -- should be making health care decisions for women.  (Applause.)  Women can make those decisions themselves.  I don’t think your boss or your insurance company should be making those decisions.  Women should be making their own health care decisions.  That’s why the health care law we passed put those choices in your hands -- that’s where it belongs and that’s where it will stay as long as I am President of the United States.  (Applause.)

And finally, I’ll use the savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to put people back to work doing some nation-building here at home -- (applause) -- rebuilding our roads and our bridges, our broadband lines in the rural areas, fixing our schools up.  When our veterans come home, I want to make sure they’ve got jobs waiting for them.  (Applause.)  We’re going to serve them as well as they’ve served us, because nobody who’s fought for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads when they come home.  (Applause.)

That’s the plan we need, Florida.  That’s how you build a strong, sustainable economy that has good, middle-class jobs.  That’s how you encourage businesses to start here and to stay here.  That’s how you’re going to actually increase take-home pay.  That’s how you build an economy where everybody who works hard has a chance.  That’s what we can do together.

And now it’s up to you.  Now it’s up to you, right here in Florida, today.  You can choose the path that we go from here.  It’s up to the young people here to choose the future that you want to see.  (Applause.)  It’s up to the not-so-young people to choose the kind of country we leave for the future generations.
You can choose the top-down policies that got us into this mess
-- or you can choose the policies that are getting us out of this mess.  (Applause.)

You can choose a foreign policy that’s reckless and wrong -– or you can choose one that’s steady and strong.  (Applause.) 

You can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for women, and for immigrants, and for gays -– or in this election, you can stand up for that basic principle that makes our country the envy of the world -- that we’re all created equal; that everybody has a place.  (Applause.)  Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old -- black, white -- (applause) -- gay, straight -- it doesn’t matter, no matter who you are, no matter you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love –- in America, you’ve got to be able to make it if you try. (Applause.)  That’s what we believe.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  (Applause.)

Florida, we have been through tough times these past four years.  I meet folks all the time who tell me how tough times have been.  And there are a lot of folks where times are still tough.  But the good news is -- Americans, we’re always tougher. We always bounce back.  We always come out on top.  (Applause.)  Because we pull together.  Because we look after one another.  Because we leave no one behind.  We don’t close the door behind us if we succeed.  We make sure that we’re bringing more folks through that door.  Because we don’t turn back.  We go forward.  Adelante.  (Applause.)  We look forward to a future that is brighter.  We look at the distant horizon and we say, that’s where we’re headed.  (Applause.) 

In America, our destiny is not written for us, it’s written by us -- and we can write that next chapter together. 

So, Florida, that’s why I’m asking for your vote in this election.  (Applause.)  That’s why I’m asking for your vote.  And if I have the privilege of serving as your President for another four years, I promise you will always have a President who hears your voices.  You’ll always have a President who fights for your families.  You’ll have a President who spends every waking hour thinking about how I can make your lives just a little bit better, make the future of your children and grandchildren a little bit brighter. 

Florida, I believe in you.  I’m asking you to keep believing in me.  (Applause.)  And if you’re willing to work with me, and knock on some doors with me, make some phone calls with me, vote for me -- (applause) -- we’ll win Hillsborough County again.  We’ll win Florida again.  (Applause.)  We’ll win this election again.  (Applause.)  We’ll finish what we started in 2008.  And we’ll remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.) 

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.) 

END
9:20 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event -- Denver, Colorado

The Meadow at City Park
Denver, Colorado
 
2:54 P.M. MDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Colorado!  (Applause.)  Thank you!  Are you fired up?  Are you ready to go?  (Applause.)  Are you fired up? 
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Are you ready to go?
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I'm fired up.  Thank you so much, everybody.  Can everybody please give Sidra a great round of applause for that wonderful introduction?  (Applause.) 
 
We've got some good friends here today.  You've got your outstanding governor, John Hickenlooper -- (applause) -- one of the best senators in the country, Michael Bennet -- (applause) -- outstanding congresswoman, Diana DeGette -- (applause) -- your wonderful mayor, Michael Hancock -- (applause) -- my campaign co-chair and former mayor, Frederico Peña.  (Applause.)  And all of you are here, which makes me excited.  (Applause.) 
 
This is the second stop on our 48-hour, marathon-extravaganza fly-around.  We are pulling an all-nighter.  No sleep; quite a bit of coffee.  (Laughter.)  
 
We've just come from Iowa.  After this -- we've got some Iowans here?  (Laughter.)  We are on our way to visit Nevada.  We're going to go to Florida, we're going to go to Virginia, we're going to go to Ohio.  And I am going to stop in Chicago to vote before this 48-hour day is done.  (Applause.)  I can't tell you who I'm voting for.  (Laughter.)  It's a secret ballot.  But Michelle says she voted for me.  (Applause.)  That’s what she said. 
 
So we can vote early in Illinois just like you can vote early in Colorado.  And I've come back to Colorado -- and this may not be the last time you'll see me.  (Applause.)  I've come to ask you for your vote.  I've come to ask you to help me keep moving America forward. 
 
We now have gone through three debates, months of campaigning, way too many TV ads.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Amen!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, yes.  Got an amen over here.  (Laughter.)  You've heard, now, Governor Romney's sales pitch.  He has been running around saying he's got a five-point plan for the economy. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Don’t boo -- vote.  (Applause.)  Vote.  That’s the way to show your opinion, is to vote.
 
It turns out it's not a five-point plan Governor Romney has got, it's a one-point plan:  Folks at the very top get to play by their own rules -- pay lower tax rates than you do, outsource more jobs, let Wall Street run wild.  And if this plan sounds familiar, it's because we tried it.  We tried it in the decade before I took office and it led to falling incomes, and record deficits, and the slowest job growth in half a century, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And we've been working for four years to clean up this mess that these policies left behind. 
 
Now, Governor Romney knows this.  He knows his plan isn't any different than the policies that led to the Great Recession.  So in the final weeks of his election, he's counting on you forgetting what he stands for.  He's hoping that you, too, will come down with a case of what we like to call Romnesia.  (Laughter.)
 
He's hoping you won't remember that his economic plan is more likely to create jobs in China than here in the United States, because it rewards companies that move jobs and profits overseas.  He's hoping you won't remember that he wants to give millionaires and billionaires a $250,000 tax cut, because the only way he can pay for it is by raising the deficit or by raising your taxes.  He’s hoping you’ll come down with a severe case of Romnesia just before you cast your ballot.  (Laughter.)
 
But, Denver, I want you to know this:  If you feel any symptoms coming on -- (laughter) -- you start feeling, oh, I’ve got a temperature, I got headaches, my eyes are getting blurry, it might be Romnesia -- but don’t worry, Obamacare covers preexisting conditions.  (Applause.)  We can make you well.  There’s a cure, Colorado, as long as you vote.  (Applause.)  There’s a cure.
 
Now, we joke about Romnesia, but all this speaks to something that is essential to your choice, and that is trust.  When you choose a President, you don’t know what is going to come up.  I mean, when I was running in 2008, we didn’t know necessarily that we would see the financial system completely implode.  We didn’t know that the auto industry might go under.  We didn’t understand what might be happening in terms of an Arab Spring.
 
But what you were voting on is somebody who you felt you could trust to work for you, to keep you in mind every single day.  Trust matters.  And one thing I think you’ve seen, Colorado, over the last four years is that I mean what I say.  (Applause.)  I do what I say I’m going to do.  (Applause.) 
 
We haven’t finished everything that we want to get done.  That’s why I’m running for a second term.  But every single day that I set foot in the Oval Office, I’m fighting for your families.  And with your help, I’ve kept many of the major commitments that we made. 
 
I told you we’d end the war in Iraq -- we ended it.  (Applause.)  I said we’d end the war in Afghanistan -- we are.  I said we’d refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 -- and now we’ve got a new tower rising above the New York skyline, and al Qaeda is on the path to defeat; Osama bin Laden is dead; our heroes are coming home.  I’ve kept those promises.  (Applause.) 
 
I promised to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses -- and we have.  I promised to end taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailouts for good -- and we did.  I promised to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and today you can’t be kicked out of the military because of who you are and who you love.  (Applause.)  I bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and we saved a dying auto industry that’s back on top of the world. 
 
On issue after issue, we are moving forward.  After losing 9 million jobs in the Great Recession, our businesses have now added more than 5 million new jobs over the past two and a half years.  (Applause.)  Manufacturing is coming back to our shores.  The unemployment rate has fallen.  Home values and home sales are rising.  Our assembly lines are humming. 
 
We’ve got a long way to go, Colorado, but we’ve come too far to turn back now.  We cannot go back to the same policies that got us into this mess.  (Applause.)  We’ve got to keep moving forward with the policies that are getting us out.  And that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)
 
Now, we --
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years! 
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Now, the reason I want four more years is because I’ve got a plan that will actually create jobs, a plan that will actually create middle-class security.  And unlike Mitt Romney, I’m actually proud to talk about what’s in my plan -- (applause) -- because it actually adds up.  And if you want to check it out, go to barackobama.com/plans.  Share it with your friends.  Share it with neighbors.  Share it with co-workers.  There are still people out there who are trying to make up their mind.  Some of you may be trying to make up your mind.  Maybe some --
 
AUDIENCE:  No!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, maybe -- no -- somebody may have dragged you here.  (Laughter.)  Maybe your grandma said, I’m sorry, you’ve got to come.  (Laughter.)  Maybe your girlfriend is trying to knock some sense into you; said, no, no, you’ve got to come to the rally. 
 
So I want you to compare my plan to Governor Romney’s.  See which plan you think is better for you.  See which plan is better for America’s future.
 
Look, I want to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas,  but I also want to reward small businesses and manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the United States.  (Applause.)  I want to cut our oil imports in half by 2020.  And we’re going to develop traditional sources of energy.  And today we are less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last two decades.  But it’s not enough just to produce more oil and natural gas.  We’ve also increased fuel standards on cars and trucks so your car will go farther on a gallon of gas.  (Applause.) 
 
I want to build on the progress we’ve made doubling clean energy.  I want fuel-efficient cars and long-lasting batteries and wind turbines manufactured here in China [sic] -- I want them -- I don’t want them manufactured in China, I want them manufactured here in the United States.  (Applause.)  I want them manufactured right here in Colorado, right here in America.  (Applause.) 
 
And by the way, it will be good for our environment.  It will help conserve the incredible natural beauty of this state.  We can do that. 
 
I want to make it a national mission to educate our kids and train our workers better than anyone else in the world.  (Applause.)  I want to recruit 100,000 math and science teachers; train 2 million workers at community colleges to get the skills that businesses are hiring for right now.  (Applause.)  I want to work with our colleges and universities to keep tuition growth low -- cut it in half over the next 10 years.  We can do that.  (Applause.) 
 
My plan will actually cut the deficit, unlike Governor Romney’s.  It will actually cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, but we’re going to do it in a balanced way.  We’ll cut out programs that don’t work, but we also need to make sure that the wealthy are paying a little bit more so we can afford to invest in technology and research that will keep new jobs and businesses coming to America.
 
And I’ll never turn Medicare into a voucher.  (Applause.)  No American should spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. 
 
And I’ll use the savings that we get from ending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan to put our people back to work doing some nation-building here at home -- repairing our roads and our bridges and our schools; extending broadband lines into rural communities; making sure that when our veterans come home, that we are hiring them and they are getting the same kinds of opportunities that they deserve, because they shouldn’t have to fight for a job when they come home after fighting for America.  That's my plan.  (Applause.) 
 
That’s the plan we need for Colorado.  That’s how you build a strong, sustainable economy that has good, middle-class jobs to offer.  That’s how you encourage new businesses to start right here.  That's how you help small businesses.  That's how you increase take-home pay.  That’s how you build an economy where everybody who works hard has a chance to get ahead.  That’s what we can do together.
 
But right now, it’s up to you, Colorado -- right here, right now, today.  (Applause.)  You will choose the path we take.  It's up to young people to make sure that they continue to have opportunities in the future to go to college, to get a good job.  It’s up to the not-so-young people to choose what -- including me -- to choose what we leave behind for future generations. 
 
So you can choose the top-down policies that got us into this mess, or we can choose the policies that are going to keep on getting us out of this mess.  You can choose a foreign policy that’s wrong and reckless, or you can choose the steady, strong leadership that we need in the world.  (Applause.) 
 
You can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for women and immigrants and gays, or in this election, you can stand up for that basic principle that we are all created equal.  (Applause.)  That no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, here in America, you can make it if you try.  (Applause.) 
 
Colorado, we have been through some tough years.  But the American people are always tougher.  We always bounce back, because we pull together, because we look after one another.  We don't turn back.  We go forward.  We don't leave anybody behind -- we pull them up with us.  In America, our destiny is not written for us, it’s written by us and we are going to write the next chapter together.  And that’s why I am asking you for your vote.  (Applause.)
 
And if you give me that vote, Colorado, you'll have a President who hears your voice, a President who fights for your families, a President who spends every waking hour trying to make your lives a little bit better.  (Applause.)  I believe in you, Colorado, and I’m asking you to keep believing in me.  (Applause.) 
 
And if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves with me, if you're willing to work with me and knock some doors with me, make some phone calls with me, we're going to win Colorado again.  (Applause.)  We're going to win this election.  We're going to finish what we started.  We'll remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth. 
 
God bless you.  (Applause.)  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)
 
END
3:10 P.M. MDT

Notice -- Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

NOTICE

- - - - - - -

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY
WITH RESPECT TO THE SITUATION IN OR IN RELATION
TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

On October 27, 2006, by Executive Order 13413, the President declared a national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), ordered related measures blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in that country. The President took this action to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been marked by widespread violence and atrocities that continue to threaten regional stability.

Because this situation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on October 27, 2006, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond October 27, 2012. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13413.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney en route Davenport, Iowa, 10/24/2012

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Iowa

9:34 A.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY:  Welcome aboard Air Force One as we begin this awesome two-day journey across the country that the President is looking forward to, as I know all of you are.  I have no announcements on the official side this morning, but Jen has something for you from her end.

MS. PSAKI:  I just wanted to quickly tick through the schedule.  And also, when you all arrive in Davenport, there will be some lovely printed books for you that include facts of each of the states we'll be visiting, even a map, has visual aids -- very exciting.

So just to tick through, so the President will kick off his America Forward tour in Davenport, Iowa today.  Following the event in Iowa, the President will travel to Denver, Colorado for a grassroots event.  He'll then tape a Tonight Show with Jay Leno in L.A.  He will then hold a late-night rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Katy Perry will perform at the event.

We'll return here, all snuggle on the plane.  The President will then fly overnight to Tampa, Florida for a morning grassroots event on Thursday.  He'll travel to Richmond, Virginia, and then on to Chicago to make history by being the first sitting President to vote early.  And then he will end the America Forward tour with a tarmac rally in Cleveland, Ohio.

Throughout the tour, as he's crisscrossing the country, he'll spend time on Air Force One calling undecided voters, rallying national team leaders and volunteers, and engaging with Americans across the country and reminding them of what's at stake in this election. 

We'll also make some local stops as we tend to do on these sorts of visits, and we'll keep you abreast of those as they develop.

MR. CARNEY:  Questions, please.

Q    Jen, the President centered on a message lately that Governor Romney is untrustworthy, and I'm wondering if you have any concern that that line of approach at the end here might turn off undecided voters, not just on what the President is running on but the central theme that Romney can't be trusted.

MS. PSAKI:  Well, Mitt Romney has made that case in this election on his own.  He has been untruthful about his positions with the American people.  He has hidden from the extremely conservative positions he's taken on issues ranging from women's health care to foreign policy.  And the stakes are high in this election. 

The President not only lays out every day when he's out there on the campaign trail his positive vision for this country, his plan to continue to help the economy recover, make sure people have access to affordable health care, the ability to go to college, but he also reminds people of the choice and why it's so important to get engaged and involved in this stage in the election.

And I think what we saw from Mitt Romney the other night at the debate was somebody who was not only uncertain but uncomfortable with his own positions on issues.  And it's simply just a reminder that people in this country want a commander-in-chief who they can trust to deliver on what they promised when they go into the Oval Office.

Q    Polling shows that the number of undecided voters is incredibly small.  At this point in the campaign, is the President's goal still to try to sway people to his side, or have we shifted realistically to more of a mobilization of voters to get out the vote?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, you're right, we agree that the number of undecided voters is a very small pool and has been for quite some time.  So our focus is twofold:  Obviously there are a far larger number of voters who have decided, who the President will be spending the next two days, crisscrossing six states, reminding them it's time to get out there to early vote, to get engaged, to door-knock, to make phone calls, and reminding them of what's at stake in this election.

But there are also -- we certainly are also still fighting for every single one of the undecided votes that we can get.  We think there are persuadable people who are still out there, who are soft Romney supporters, but also people who haven’t yet made up their minds.  And that's why the President goes out there every day, lays out his vision for the country.  That's why we have put out a plan that the President has talked about for months, but now people can share with their friends and neighbors so they have a very specific understanding of what the President would do with four more years.

Q    Jen, can you talk a little bit about the genesis of this trip -- how long has it been being planned, where did that come from, and why are we doing it now and not the last week of the campaign?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, what if we do a 98-hour tour the last week?  (Laughter.)  I'm just joking.  This has been a trip that has been in the works for weeks.  It's something we've been very excited about for weeks.  There are obviously a number of complicated logistics involved with moving Air Force One, moving a plane of reporters, events, local stops, phone calls involved. So it's taken quite a bit of planning. 

We're doing this now because we feel this is a pivotal time in the election -- always has.  On early vote, which is a big priority for us, people have started early voting; they're starting to early vote in places like Colorado, where we will be visiting today, this week. 

As a reminder, four years ago, 78 percent of people in Colorado either voted by mail or early voted, which is a huge number.  Nevada -- they just started on Saturday early voting.  So -- and this is also not just about reminding people to go to the polls, which is a big part of it, it's about engaging our supporters, engaging volunteers.  Maybe you're volunteering one night a week; we need you to do three.  Maybe you are voting, but you haven't yet come in to make phone calls; we need you to make phone calls. 

The President is going to be pounding the pavement over the next two days, visiting all these states because he feels this is a pivotal time, and every single extra doorknob, every single extra phone call could make all the difference in what we think will be a razor-thin election.

Q    Jen, the only states that we're visiting, the polls are deadlocked.  The President over the last few weeks has actually lost support in these states; Romney has gained support.  Yesterday on a conference call, Jim Messina, David Axelrod said that they expect the polls to stay this tight until the end.  So with no more debates, what are you guys looking for, what could change the dynamic?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, I would dispute one piece of that, and that is that we did see a slight bump in the polls for Romney after the first debate.  We fully expected the polls would tighten -- for months we have.  And we've long said that.  And whether it was the debate or something else that caused it, we always knew they'd be closer towards the end.  The race has been very stable over the past -- actually since -- for the past week plus.  And there's a couple -- so what we want out of this, out of the next two days, is to spend time in these pivotal states reminding people what's at stake, what the choice is in this election, and that now is the time to get engaged, to get involved and to vote.

Q    So you expect this trip to change polls?

MS. PSAKI:  We expect the race to be razor-thin until the end.  I will dispute a couple of things, since I have the opportunity here.  I know that the Romney team is spinning overtime about their secret momentum.  But the facts are not their forte.

And there are a couple -- three points I just want to make on that.  One, we're tied or ahead in every single swing state.  Two, we're winning the early vote in every single swing state and we're ahead of where we were in 2008 on the early vote. And finally, even though the Romney team has been talking down the potential for minority turnout -- African American and Latino populations in this country -- we think it will be a record turnout.  And we've seen every indication of that up to date.  And that disputes kind of some of the points.

So I know they've thrown out secret polls, but I haven’t seen any data to back up their points.

Q    Then why aren't we going to North Carolina?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, we're going to six of the six to nine swing states over the next two days.  We have 13 days to go.  I can't even tell you what we're doing next week because we're still planning it, but we have plenty of time to go back there.  We sent the First Lady there.  We're up on the air.  We have people on the ground.  We feel very encouraged about the response to early vote that started just last week.

And I know, again, that the Romney team is trying to spin that we are -- that they're so over-confident that -- we hope they are.  We hope they're over-confident there, because we're pounding the pavement there, we're getting voters out to the polls.  That is one of our best ground operations in the country. We’ve registered hundreds of thousands of new voters.  And as far as I’ve heard, they’ve pulled one person out to have them work in Ohio.  That’s hardly backing up their verbal assertions.

Q    Based on some of those stats that you just shared, would you say that it’s your campaign that has the momentum?

MS. PSAKI:  Look, I think we feel great about the last two debates and that has certainly energized our supporters.  We think we have a better candidate, that we have a ground game that’s second to none, and that we have a better deal we’re offering to middle-class families across the country.  Those are all advantages.

But we know this race is going to be very, very close -- razor-thin in some of these states -- and that’s how we’re running.  We’re going to run like we’re five points behind in every state, even when we’re five points up, because we have 13 days to go and we’ll sleep on November 7th.

MR. CARNEY:  And as I can say as a matter of policy that fundamentally this is a choice about plans for the future.  And Americans understand the depth of the crisis that faced this country when President Obama took office.  They know the policies that precipitated that crisis.  They recognize that those same policies are being offered up to them again. 

And they know that the President’s policies have reversed what could have become a Great Depression; led to the creation of over 5 million private sector jobs; led to the salvations of the American auto industry; led to the resurgence of the manufacturing sector in our economy; led to historic investments in energy sectors that are crucial to our energy independence in the 21st century; led to a situation where we are importing less oil from foreign countries than in more than 15 years; led to the fulfillment of the President’s promise to end the war in Iraq, refocus our attention on those who attacked us on September 11, 2001; led to the decimation of the senior leadership of al Qaeda’s central, including Osama bin Laden.  And I could go on.

There’s a choice here, a policy choice here.  And the President feels very confident that the prescriptions he’s putting forward are the right ones for continuing to grow the economy, continuing to create jobs. 

And in contrast, the alternative proposals out there -- his assertions are backed up by the analysis of independent economists.  When plans put forward by the other side have been assessed by outside sources, they’ve been called, essentially, fraudulent.  A $5 trillion tax cut that benefits disproportionately the wealthiest Americans coupled with $2 trillion in additional defense spending the Pentagon doesn’t even want cannot be paid for by closing loopholes without sticking it to the middle class.  It is mathematically impossible.

And having done this a few times -- with Brian and others -- it’s important to remember that that’s what the issues are.  It’s not the minutiae of momentum and ads and stuff.  In the end, Americans go to the polls to make a choice about which direction they want the country to go in.

Q    Jay, there are some emails that have emerged, which suggest that the White House and other areas of the government were told within hours of the Benghazi attack that an extremist group had claimed responsibility.  How is that compatible with the idea that it was a spontaneous attack?

MR. CARNEY:  There were emails about all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack.  The email you’re referring to was an open-source, unclassified email referring to an assertion made on a social media site that everyone in this room had access to and knew about instantaneously.

There was a variety of information coming in.  The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who was responsible.  And I would refer you to what we’ve already said about, and what the DNI has already said about, the initial assessments of the intelligence community, and the fact that throughout this process, I and others made very clear that our preliminary assessments were preliminary, that an investigation was underway, and that as more facts became available, we would make the American people aware of them. 

Again, this was an open-source, unclassified email about a posting on a Facebook site.  I would also note I think that within a few hours, that organization itself claimed that it had not been responsible.  Neither should be taken as fact -- that’s why there’s an investigation underway.

Q    Thanks.

Q    One light question to end -- how much sleep did you guys get last night?

MS. PSAKI:  Not enough.  (Laughter.)

Q    How much are you going to get tonight?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, we’ll probably be having a big party up front while you guys are sleeping.  No, just a few hours.  I think we’re all going to be going on adrenaline for the next 36 hours or so.  That’s the fun of it.  Nobody walk into oncoming traffic or into any glass-plated walls and we’ll be good.

MR. CARNEY:  It’s going to be fun.

Q    Did the President get sleep last night -- hours?

MR. CARNEY:  Not enough.  Not enough, but that’s okay.

Q    How does the President feel about the trip and the physical sort of rigor on him?

MS. PSAKI:  He’s excited about it.  He loves being on the ground, spending time visiting people where they work, where they’re watching football, where they’re eating.  He’ll have the opportunity to do that on this trip -- surprising people, which is always fun.

And he’s really energized by the crowds, the people he meets on the rope line and the people he meets backstage.  And I think this is a great way, and he feels this is a great way to kick off the final two weeks.

Q    Will he also be doing some interviews?  Phone interviews?

MS. PSAKI:  I will double-check for you.  I don’t believe he has any scheduled.

Q    And also, I’m just wondering, do you guys have any response to the Des Moines Register, what they’ve written about the President doing an off-the-record discussion with them?

MS. PSAKI:  Sure, well, some important context here -- as you know, the President does interviews every single day, many of them you all use in your reporting, many of you have done interviews with him.  He’s done many with the Des Moines Register, including one just a few weeks ago.

This was a call -- he’s done many editorial board meetings with them as well.  This was a call that was meant to be a personal check-in with a publisher and an editor, one of whom he hadn’t spoken with in four years, one of whom he’d never spoken with before.  They expressed a desire to put this on the record, make it public.  We’ve said that’s fine and they’re going to be posting it this morning.

Q    They will print it?

MS. PSAKI:  Yes.

Q    Thanks, guys.

MR. CARNEY:  Thank you.

MS. PSAKI:  Actually, can I add, since you didn’t ask -- I don’t know if you have all seen the comments of Senator Mourdock -- or not senator -- Mr. Mourdock from Indiana.  That was a bad slip.  But we obviously put out a statement from Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  I also wanted to add that the President felt those comments were outrageous and demeaning to women.  This is a reminder that a Republican Congress working with a Republican President, Mitt Romney, would feel that women should not be able to make choices about their own health care. 

And this is an issue where Mitt Romney is starring in an ad for this senator.  And it is perplexing that he wouldn’t demand to have that ad taken down.

Q    What does it say about Mitt Romney that he endorsed him to begin with?

MS. PSAKI:  Look, I think it’s clear that Mitt Romney, that many Republicans who are running office, including him -- including Mr. Mourdock, have very extreme positions on issues that women care deeply about in this country, and that if they have the opportunity to be partners in the White House and in the Senate, that that’s something women should have and will have concern about as they’re going to the voting booths.

Q    Thanks.

END 
9:52 A.M. EDT