There are no coincidences in presidential politics.Keep reading.
Strategists spend hours poring over every word a president utters, every policy position he takes and every state he visits, a level of attention to detail that makes happenstance virtually nonexistent.
And so, when the White House announced today that President Obama would deliver his much-anticipated jobs speech on Sept. 7 at 8 pm — the exact same day and time that the 2012 Republican candidates are scheduled to debate in California — the idea that the timing was purely coincidental was, well, far-fetched.
It’s clear that this White House saw an opportunity to drive a major — and direct — contrast between President Obama and his potential Republican rivals and took it.
Petty and small sounds about right.
Also at Lonely Conservative, "Obama Calls for Joint Session of Congress for New Economic Plan Speech, On Same Night as GOP Debate," and Legal Insurrection, "Just say No to Obama Joint Session of Congress campaign speech."
UPDATE: At NYT, "Obama Reschedules Economy Speech at Boehner’s Request":
President Obama acquiesced to a request from Speaker John A. Boehner on Wednesday to move the date of his proposed address to a joint session of Congress to Thursday Sept. 8, after Mr. Boehner all but rejected Mr. Obama’s request to speak next Wednesday.
