Obama Breaks Silence on Terrorist Attempt

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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December 28, 2009

Obama Breaks Silence on Terrorist Attempt

President Obama "emerged from Hawaiian seclusion to try to quell gathering criticism of his administration's handling of the thwarted Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner as a branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attempted attack," the New York Times reports.

"Until now, Mr. Obama had tried to strike a balance between signaling that he is on top of the situation and not drawing more attention to it than it already was generating... Yet the visual contrasts have been jarring. Pictures of passengers enduring tougher security screening at the airport were juxtaposed against images of the president soaking in the sun and surf of this tropical getaway."

Marc Ambinder: "Did Obama, attempting to make a clean break from the Bush years vis-a-vis communicating to the public about terrorism, put too much faith in DHS Secretary Napolitano to serve as the front-line communicator? Who came up with her formulation yesterday -- "the system worked" -- and who told her she had to walk it back this morning?"

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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December 28, 2009