RETREATING TO THE BUNKER - AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

At a time when his Washington honeymoon is turning into a hazing, President Barack Obama and his team are launched on a strategy to sail above the traditional White House press corps by reaching out to liberal commentators, local reporters and ethnic media.

The highest-profile moments in the new approach have been well-noted, such as the president giving an interview to progressive radio host Ed Schultz and Obama calling on a reporter from the liberal-leaning Huffington Post at his first news conference.

But those moves are only part of a much larger strategy aimed at communicating directly with audiences the White House believes are more sympathetic to the president’s agenda — and one in which much of the work is being done by Obama’s top advisers.

COMMENT:  Say what?  An audience more sympathetic than the Washington press corps?  Is the White House serious here?  These are the guys who put Obama in the Oval Office.  And they're not sympathetic enough?

This is a sign of trouble because it's a sign of paranoia.  If it continues this way, Obama will out-Nixon Nixon.  These guys must calm down, take the little white pill, and ride with the punches.  Circling the wagons just doesn't happen this early in an administration - unless it's one run by amateurs.

Hmm.

March 24, 2009