Obama sets out on Dem fundraising sprint amid mounting crises

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

President Obama set out Tuesday on a three-day West Coast fundraising tour, despite mounting domestic and global crises -- and criticism from Republicans that the administration is not taking them seriously enough.

 

The president already has taken heat for making time for a burger stop and fundraisers last week shortly after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed over Ukraine, killing hundreds. While the president repeatedly has addressed the tragedy in public, he also spent his Sunday playing golf at Fort Belvoir.

 

Later Tuesday, Obama will attend a Democratic Party fundraiser in Seattle, before catching Air Force One to San Francisco. He'll end the three-day swing later this week in Los Angeles.

 

The White House has defended the president's busy political schedule, which the president's team largely has not changed in response to world events.

 

"What the president is looking at and what his team is looking at is, does he have what he needs to do his job?" White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday, in response to questions about the president's fundraising.

 

Asked about Obama's fundraising last week in New York, Earnest said it was not a mistake and noted that the president made calls to the leaders of Ukraine and Malaysia amid the Flight 17 tragedy.

 

"When the president travels, he travels with an array of staff and advisers and communications equipment that allows him to do his job from wherever he happens to be," Earnest said. "And if it becomes clear that there's a need for him to come back to the White House in order to fulfill those functions, then we'll make a change in his schedule. Right now, it's not apparent that that's the case."

 

But Republican critics have questioned the president's stay-the-course strategy on fundraisers.

 

In response to the White House defense of its own itinerary, the Republican National Committee tweeted: "The White House still feels Obama's choice of burgers & fundraisers over responding to crises was the right one."

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Come what may, the eternal campaign goes on...

[Valin]