Presidential Addresses vs. Campaign Rallies

By now we've all heard about the speech that Dotard Donnie gave at the Shell plant in Pittsburgh the other day. The speech was supposed to be about U.S. energy independence and the importance of manufacturing jobs. In any other administration, this wouldn't have been a big deal. Presidents in recent years have regularly made appearances to talk up important sectors of the U.S. economy, or showcase an administration's signature programs. This isn't normally a problem...normally. This, however, isn't a normal presidency. Normally, while a president in a similar situation might discretely pat himself on the back for his administration's accomplishments, he would usually refrain from overtly partisan statements, would refrain from attacking political opponents and stay on topic. This abnormal president did all of those things, including exhorting the attendees to vote for him, and if their union leaders did not endorse him, "vote them the hell out".

It's bad enough that Donnie spends significant parts of each and every day attacking his real and imagined enemies, it's bad enough that he spends virtually every weekend golfing, but apparently it was too much to expect that he would stay on topic and not turn this visit into just another campaign rally. After all, he turns visits to military bases into rallies on a regular basis, indulging in his paranoid recitation of grievances.

Once again, he has mistaken the office of the presidency for a platform for promoting his own ego.