#DoingFine: 8 Democrats Not Feeling So Great With Obama’s “Doing Fine” Declaration

Obama’s Own Supporters Disagree Or Dodge On His Assessment That The “Private Sector Is Doing Fine”

ORMER DNC CHAIR GOVERNOR ED RENDELL (D-PA): “IT’S OBVIOUSLY A SIGNIFICANT MISSTATEMENT”

Former DNC Chair And PA Governor Ed Rendell: “I’m Not Saying The President’s Remark On The Private Sector ‘Doing Fine’ Was Smart, It’s Obviously A Significant Misstatement.” “By then, Obama’s ‘doing fine’ comment may be in heavy rotation on presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign and super PAC advertisements, but Rendell said the former Massachusetts governor, whose primary campaign was full of reminders of his wealth, has given Democrats far more ammunition for the fall campaign. ‘I’m not saying the president’s remark on the private sector ‘doing fine’ was smart, it’s obviously a significant misstatement,’ Rendell said.” (Reid J. Epstein, “John Bryson’s Leave Of Absence Adds To Obama’s Bad News,” Politico, 6/11/12)

GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK (D-MA) DISAGREES

Democrat Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Disagreed With Obama. “During a speech Friday where he emphasized the problems of public sector employees Obama said, ‘The private sector is doing just fine.’ Patrick disagreed. ‘I think it’s uncertain, and I think it suffers from a certain amount of the politics of uncertainty,’ he said of the private sector.” (Keegan Gibson and Kelly Cernetich, “Mass Gov. Patrick Rallies PA Dems,” PoliticsPA, 6/9/12)

SENATOR MARK WARNER (D-VA): “NO”

Question: “Do you feel like the private sector is doing fine like the President said the other day?”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “No.”

Question: “No?”

Sen. Warner: “I don’t feel like that, you know, on a relative basis corporate balance sheets look very good, but there is not the kind of demand that we need to see to generate the job growth. I do think there are things around infrastructure that can be done that would actually help things right now.”

Question: “Would you say that some of the stuff the President is calling for in his so-called jobs plan are things that we need?”

Sen. Warner: “It’s great to see you.” (Sen. Mark Warner, 6/11/12)

FORMER OBAMA ECONOMIC ADVISER STEVEN RATTNER: “I’M SAYING IT’S NOT DOING FINE”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: “So let’s figure the private sector that the President is talking about. Because if you told him that the corporations were making lots of money, that would not be doing fine by this president’s definition.”

Former Obama Economic Adviser Steven Rattner: “So, if you look at it in terms of jobs, since the beginning of the recession, there have been close to 5 million jobs lost in the private sector. So I think you have a hard time saying the private sector is doing fine. And by the way, people always talk about jobs and I just — as I like to remind them there’s also incomes and people’s incomes are down in the private sector over this period of time. So, even the 90% of Americans who have jobs, have lower incomes on average.”

Scarborough: “Okay. That’s not — that — that wouldn’t be like —

Nicole Wallace: “Fine.”

Rattner: “I’m saying it’s not doing fine.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/11/12)

THE NEW YORK TIMES‘ PAUL KRUGMAN: “THE PRESIDENT BUNGLED THE LINE”

The New York Times‘ Paul Krugman: “The President Bungled The Line.” CBS’S CHARLIE ROSE: “Tell me two quick things, one, what is the private sector, how do you define how well the private sector is doing?” THE NEW YORK TIMES‘ PAUL KRUGMAN: “You know that was an unfortunate line. The president bungled the line.” (CBS’s “This Morning,” 6/11/12)

CONGRESSOWMAN SHELLEY BERKLEY (D-NV): “WE ARE GOING THROUGH VERY, VERY TOUGH TIMES”

Democrat Congresswoman Shelley Berkley Disagreed With Obama, Pointing Out That “We Are Going Through Very, Very Rough Times.” “Berkley, who is locked in a tight Senate race with Heller, walked a narrow path in responding to Obama’s comment on the private sector, declining to criticize him outright, but pointing to the contrary reality. ‘Particularly in states like Nevada, we are going through very, very tough times’ she said. ‘We’ve made progress but we have a long way to go.'” (Anjeanette Damon, “Democrats’ Rally Lacking Some Of Its Usual Pep,” Las Vegas Sun, 6/9/12)

FORMER BIDEN ECONOMIC ADVISER JARED BERNSTEIN: “I WINCED HAVING NOT BEEN IN THERE”

Former Biden Economic Adviser Jared Bernstein: “I Think He Misspoke. … I Winced Having Not Been In There.” “‘I think he misspoke,’ Bernstein said. Asked would he have winced if he’d still been in the White House, Bernstein said: ‘I winced having not been in there.'” (Major Garrett, “A ‘Fine’ Mess. Even Obama Loyalist Winces At Obama’s Take On Private Sector,” National Journal, 6/8/12)

OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER DAVID AXELROD DODGED QUESTION ABOUT PRIVATE SECTOR DOING FINE THREE TIMES

Dodge #1: “Simple Yes Or No”

CNN’s Candy Crowley: “Joining me from Chicago, President Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod. David, thank you, as always, for being here. Let’s start out with a really simple yes or no. Do you agree with the President that the private sector is doing fine?”

Dodge #2: “So Bottom Line…”

Crowley: “So bottom line, is the private sector doing fine?”

Obama Senior Adviser David Axelrod: “The private sector, uh, we need to accelerate job creation in the private sector. One of the ways -”

Crowley: “Right.”

Axelrod: “- we can do that is putting teachers and firefighters and police back to work -”

Crowley: “That’s the public sector.”

Dodge #3: “Just Want To Know…”

Crowley:“But I think that we put it in context in the open, you put it in context in the open. I just want to know whether the administration, whether you believe that the private sector is doing fine. Is it doing better?” (CNN’s “State Of The Union,” 6/10/12)