Subject: Re: Worth sending transcript or excerpts as an ICYMI?
From: Mark Paustenbach <[email-masked]>
To: "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 11:14:33 -0400

Obama Swipes at Trump, but Doesn’t Name Him, in Speech at Rutgers

By GARDINER HARRIS
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/gardiner_harris/index.html>MAY
15, 2016

President Obama
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
took
several sharp swipes at Donald J. Trump
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/donald-trump-on-the-issues.html?inline=nyt-per>
on
Sunday during a commencement address that could be the beginning of a
forceful effort to help elect a Democratic successor as president.

Addressing Rutgers University
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/rutgers_the_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>’s
class of 2016 at the school’s 250th anniversary commencement, Mr. Obama
never mentioned Mr. Trump by name. But his target was clear, and his
assessments earned raucous cheers from the graduates.

“The world is more interconnected than ever before, and it’s becoming more
connected every day,” Mr. Obama told the graduates. “Building walls won’t
change that.”

Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has proposed
building a wall between the United States and Mexico and forcing Mexico to
pay for its potential multibillion dollar construction costs. Mr. Trump has
also denounced much of the modern international trading and economic
system, and he has proposed banning Muslim visitors and immigrants from the
country, at least temporarily — all ideas Mr. Obama condemned on Sunday.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump have exchanged zingers before. Mr. Trump was a
leading voice questioning Mr. Obama’s birth location
<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/obamas-long-form-birth-certificate-released/?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FBirther%20Movement>
and
citizenship, and Mr. Obama has responded
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/politics/obama-jobs-economy-donald-trump.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FBirther%20Movement&_r=0>
by
taking particular delight in skewering Mr. Trump.

But Mr. Obama is altering his stump speech in important ways to go after
Mr. Trump. As his remaining time in office draws to less than a school
year, Mr. Obama has alternated between mild and mock horror, pointed humor
and a touch of disbelief in his attacks on the Republican front-runner.

“We live in an age of global supply chains, and a lot of folks have
legitimate concerns with the way globalization has progressed,” Mr. Obama
said. “But the answer isn’t to stop trading with other countries. In this
global economy, that’s not even possible.”

Mr. Obama said that isolating and disparaging Muslims was not only a
betrayal of American values but “would alienate the very communities at
home and abroad who are our most important partners in combating violent
extremism.”

Wearing a crimson robe with black sashes and a purple doctoral hood that a
fierce wind kept blowing off his shoulders, Mr. Obama told the graduates
that the knowledge they had earned through years of studying was something
they should insist political leaders value and possess themselves.

“Facts, evidence, reason, logic, an understanding of science — these are
good things. These are qualities you want in people making policy,” Mr.
Obama said, adding later, “In politics and in life, ignorance is not a
virtue.”

Mr. Obama seemed to especially take pleasure in advocating the use of facts
in politics while speaking to an academic audience. His point with such
arguments is usually to press for action against climate change
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,
one of the signature policies of his administration and one that nearly all
climate scientists support.

But while Mr. Obama mentioned climate change, he also used his points about
facts and experience to take yet another swipe at an unnamed Mr. Trump.

He noted that when people get sick, they want an experienced doctor to
treat them; when they fly, they want experienced pilots.

“And yet in our public lives, we suddenly say, ‘I don’t want somebody who’s
done it before’?” he asked in derision.

Mr. Trump has no experience as a politician, a quality that has been viewed
as one of the most important reasons for his success as a presidential
candidate.

Mr. Obama came to Rutgers after students, faculty members and even
relatives of students spent the past three years lobbying the White House
for him to speak on this anniversary for the school.

“The truth is, Rutgers, I came here because you asked. You are the first to
launch a three-year campaign,” he said. “Emails, letters, tweets, YouTube
videos. I even got three notes from the grandmother of your student body
president,” Mr. Obama said, drawing laughter. “And I have to say that
really sealed the deal. That was smart because I have a soft spot for
grandmas.”

But Mr. Obama made clear that Rutgers was precisely the kind of institution
that he wanted to celebrate. Last week, Mr. Obama spoke at thecommencement
of Howard University
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/us/obama-says-thought-and-compromise-are-key-to-bringing-change.html>,
a historically black university, and told the next generation of black
leaders that passion must be tempered by strategic thinking and a
willingness to compromise.

Rutgers, one of the first nine government-chartered institutions in the
American colonies, “could be the most diverse student body in America,” he
said. And he likened Rutgers’ long history of success with that of the
country as a whole.

And while he celebrated that history, he made clear to the graduates that
no period in history was as prosperous as this one.

“The good old days weren’t all that good,” Mr. Obama said. “In fact, by
almost every measure, America is better and the world is better than it was
50 years ago or 30 years ago or even eight years ago.”

One of Mr. Obama’s frustrations during his presidency has been the
country’s persistently sour mood
<http://www.gallup.com/poll/1669/general-mood-country.aspx> despite what he
sees as a remarkable turnaround in the nation’s economy
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/magazine/president-obama-weighs-his-economic-legacy.html>,
the passage of wide-ranging health care legislation and the nation’s
pre-eminent strength militarily.

He cited those accomplishments and many others, including declining rates
of crime, teenage pregnancy and poverty, as well as improvements in life
expectancy, the status of blacks and Latinos and clean energy.

“Marriage equality is the law of the land,” he added, to robust cheers.

As he often does in such speeches, Mr. Obama told the graduates that they
needed to participate in the political process and be satisfied with
incremental change. Democrats generally fare better than Republicans in
high-turnout elections, and while young people overwhelmingly support
Democrats, they rarely vote. So Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama, the first
lady, always urge student audiences to show up at the polls on Election Day.

“Because apathy has consequences,” the president said.

He said changes, even small ones, were worth fighting for.

“I always tell my daughters, ‘Better is good,’” Mr. Obama said near the end
of his speech, adding, “Don’t waste your time waiting.”

On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 11:04 AM, Miranda, Luis <[email-masked]> wrote:

> What was good about them?
>
>
>
> Sent via the Samsung GALAXY S®4, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Mark Paustenbach <[email-masked]>
> Date: 05/16/2016 10:47 (GMT-05:00)
> To: "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>, "Freundlich, Christina" <
> [email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Worth sending transcript or excerpts as an ICYMI?
>
>
> Transcript of President Obama's commencement address at Rutgers
>
>
> http://www.phillyvoice.com/transcript-president-obamas-commencement-address-rutgers/
>
>
> Mark Paustenbach
> National Press Secretary &
> Deputy Communications Director
> Democratic National Committee
> 202.863.8148
> [email-masked]
>