Obama Election Year Travel

     Q    I have one other question.  We've talked about this before in this room, about the President's trips to battleground states in which he has an event and then he has a fundraiser.  And I know you've talked more recently when Ann (Compton of ABC) asked you about how the language in these different official versus campaign events are often quite similar.  What is your message to taxpayers when they see the President flying on Air Force One, doing one official event, one campaign event, flying back, knowing that in a lot of ways, taxpayers are paying for the President to campaign?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, they’re not, first of all, because as in other administrations, including our immediate predecessors, as you know, we follow all the rules and regulations to ensure that the DNC or other relevant political committee pays what is required for the President or First Lady to travel to political events.  And this -- we go absolutely by the book with regard to the payments according to -- depending on which events are campaign or political and which are official. 

The suggestion that there is something wrong with the fact that the President says the same thing about what his vision is and what his policies are and what his beliefs are in front of official audiences, non-political audiences as he does in front of audiences who are his supporters I think is kind of ridiculous.  In fact, I think it is a testament to his absolute constancy and consistency that he -- this goes back to Ann’s question -- that, yes, when he stands before supporters who are donating to his campaign, who may be wealthy, and says, it is only appropriate that the wealthiest among us do our fair share so that everybody gets a fair shot -- that’s the same message he has when he’s talking about the need to pass the Buffett Rule in the Senate.  Totally -- I think that’s absolutely the way it should be. 

And again, with regards to the way every President who's been running for reelection in our lifetimes deals with these matters, it is by the book, very carefully done and appropriately done.  And as you know, Jake, the President is the President 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and he has to fly on Air Force One.  He has to have security and communication.  There are elements of his job that are always with him, regardless of whether he’s in a campaign event or an official event.  And costs are apportioned accordingly.

     Q    I think the issue is that President Obama is fundraising more than any President before.  Each President -- you could say this about each President -- that he has broken records for fundraisers than the one before; that President Obama has attended dozens more fundraisers than President Bush had done at this point in his presidency, and is going to visit battleground states more than any President --

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, that's a fact that I'd like to contest, because when that was first raised based on a Wall Street Journal article that included Virginia as evidence -- the President's trips to Virginia as evidence of traveling to battleground states, but when it was noted that they didn't include that when assessing President George W. Bush's travel in 2004 -- they didn't include Virginia because nobody thought Virginia was contested, and if you did include Virginia, Bush actually traveled to more battleground states at an earlier period of time.  So the President should not be penalized for the fact that the voters of Virginia decided to vote for him in 2008.  (Laughter.)

     Q    Do you know the states he's visited the most this year?

     MR. CARNEY:  And 2012, we hope.  I'm sorry, I don't.

     Q    The two states he's visited the most this year are Ohio and Florida.  That's just a coincidence?

     MR. CARNEY:  Two very populous states; very important states. And I'm sure he'll be back to those states as well as others.  We were recently in Oklahoma.  I'm an eternal optimist, but I'm prepared to suggest that it's unlikely that anyone would call that a battleground state.  He gave a major speech in Nebraska Kansas -- again, prepared to suggest that that's not a battleground state, although a portion of it was in 2008.*

     If you look at everyone in the news organizations and all their maps about what states are up for grabs and that kind of stuff, and say the President can't go to those states, you're basically saying he can't go to half the country -- he can't go to -- and probably far greater than half in terms of population. He can't go to --

     Q    Nobody is saying he can't go to those states, Jay.  The question is should they be declared campaign trips?

     MR. CARNEY:  So you're saying he cannot make official event -- make official trips to a significant portion of the country because you guys have declared them battleground states.  And let me be clear.  Some of the states you've declared battleground states had never been won by a Democrat before until -- for years and years before 2008, or President Obama won by double digits in 2008.  But that's not -- that's a battleground state now. 

Again, it is impossible for him to appropriately do his job and travel around the country and talk with the American people if he is guided by that kind of narrow view of what is a battleground state or a safe state for a Democrat or a safe state for a Republican.  He's President of all the people, all of the United States, and will travel accordingly.