I have been a political junkie since I was old enough to understand the democratic process, and never in my entire life have I seen a White House Communications Director be so clueless, so tone deaf, so wildly and hopelessly out of touch with the largest constituency of a sitting president.
And it's manifestly evident the problem isn't with Pfeiffer's competency. The problem is that the entire Obama administration is structurally and institutionally clueless, tone deaf, and wildly and hopelessly out of touch with their largest constituency, and Pfeiffer is just doing his job—communicating the White House's position.
This is the clip every progressive feminist will remember when they walk into a voting booth (or don't) in 2012. Absolutely breathtaking.
[Full transcript below.]
Daily Kos Associate Editor Kalli Joy Gray: I'd like to ask you about a different kind of war, and this is a war that I am particularly concerned about.
White House Director of Communications Dan Pfeiffer: Okay.
Gray: The war on women. [Audience applause.] We're seeing an unprecedented number of attacks on women at the state and federal level—everything from contraception to health care to food stamps, um, drug-testing of women receiving welfare in Florida. Women in Congress, including Nancy Pelosi, are talking openly about a war on women. So, I want to know if the president agrees with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and our new DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz: Is there a war on women?
Pfeiffer: Well, what I can say is that there is no question that there is a sustained effort from Republicans at the federal and state level to, uh, undo a lot of the progress we've done. I think the most, uh, prominent example was the effort to defund Planned Parenthood, uh, during the government funding battle a few months ago, which the president, uh, at that point told the House Republicans that if they wanted to defund Planned Parenthood, that they were going to have to shut down the government over it. We see this in Indiana, where, uh, Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law an effort that would, uh, illegally defund Planned Parenthood, and the federal government is involved in a lawsuit to stop that. And so he, the president, is very concerned about all of these efforts, uh, and the ones on the federal level that we can play an active role to stop, including the use of the veto pen, uh, the president will do that.
[Note from Liss: Notice that Gray asked him a yes or no question: Does the president agree that there is a war on women? And instead of straightforwardly answering her question, Pfeiffer mansplains the problem to her, as if she and her audience are stupid and/or unaware of the issues affecting women. The thing is, he implicitly answers yes just by his reflexive defensiveness; there's no need to defend the president's record if you don't agree that there's a war on women—but he won't say it, because openly acknowledging there is a war on women is to then admit that the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act ain't fucking enough. Gray, fortunately, zeroes in and does not let him off the hook.]
Gray: Yes, but we also saw during the healthcare debate that, when it comes down to it, women's issues take a back seat for the "larger" issues, so, for example, the president said that accepting the Hyde Amendment, which punishes poor women in this country, was an acceptable status quo and that we needed to put that aside for the bigger picture. So, I'll ask again: Is there a war on women?
Pfeiffer: [pause] Let's talk about healthcare for a second, which is— [Gray laughs mirthlessly at his obvious evasiveness; the audience laughs; Pfeiffer holds up his finger, gesturing to her to hold on and listen.] The, the, the Hyde Amendment— ["Just say yes!" someone shouts from the audience] The Hyde Amendment was, uh, was the law of the land, and so—
Gray: It's renewed every year. It is not the law of the land. It is renewed every year. [Audience applause.]
Pfeiffer: Right, and, and if we tried to repeal it in health reform, there would be no health reform. And that, that was, that was the choice. It was a very simple choice, and so—
Gray: It was a simple choice?
Pfeiffer: It was, well, it's, you have two options—it's simple in the fact that you have two options; it's not an easy choice! [He says this like Gray is being a jerk.] You have two choi—you have two options: And it was no health reform and make that attempt, which would've failed and would most certainly not have passed the United States Senate, so that's the choice you have to make.
[He says this in this really matter-of-fact way, as if anyone would question the decision is an asshole, and when he says "the choice you have to make," I wonder who that "you" is supposed to be, really, because it's definitely not the women who are left without any choice because of the Hyde Amendment.]
Gray: So—
Pfeiffer: And, like, to answer your other question about whether— The war on women is not a, a, a phrase the president has used, but, but—
Gray: Nancy Pelosi has.
Pfeiffer: Yes, she has. And, but, there is a—there is no question that this—that, uh— The very same things that concern Nancy Pelosi and Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, uhhhh, concern the president in the same way.
Gray: Well, he really hasn't said anything about it, so, is he planning to speak out on the issue?
Pfeiffer: He, I think he, he, he has talked a lot about, about the efforts around Planned Parenthood, uh, absolutely. And I'm sure, I'm sure he will speak about it as well.
Gray: Uhhh, okay, because, you know, in 2008, um, President Obama carried women by a 56 to 43 margin; in 2010, Democratic women, um, stayed home or voted Republican—and women in this country, Democratic women, who are the majority in the country and we're a majority of the party, we feel like we are under assault. You mentioned Lilly Ledbetter; frankly we're a little sick of hearing about that one. So, does the president think he can win reelection without those women who didn't show up for him, for the Democrats, in 2010?
Pfeiffer: Of course not.
Gray: So, is there anything more that he intends to do, any proactive steps he'll take, any legislation that he might endorse, to get the women in this room, me, the women in this country, who are concerned about the assault on us, to turn out in 2012?
Pfeiffer: [who kept trying to interrupt Gray the whole time she was speaking, without a trace of irony that NOT LISTENING IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM] Well, I'll give you one example, which is, I know you're sick of Lilly Ledbetter, but, uh, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is the next level with Lilly Ledbetter, the president's a big supporter of, he made a push for in Congress last time, it did not pass, and he'll continue to make a push for it.
[The audience mumbles and groans. Gray looks at Pfeiffer and lets out a big sigh. The clip ends.]
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