In a hasty and wise bit of damage control, president-elect Barack Obama quickly telephoned former First Lady Nancy Reagan this afternoon to apologize for "a careless and offhanded remark" he made about her this morning during his first post-election news conference.They must have gotten a lot of blowback for him to make such a hasty apology.Obama was asked how he was preparing to take over the White House, what books he's reading, if he'd talked to any ex-presidents. He replied:
"In terms of speaking to former presidents, I've spoken to all of them that are living. Obviously, President Clinton -- I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances."
The passing reference to the former First Lady's alleged interest in horoscopes struck some observers as a gratuitous slap at an old lady at a time Obama was trying to set a positive, professed bipartisan tone for his transition.
The Obama press office received numerous inquiries for explanation and reaction. And this afternoon issued the following statement:
"“President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan today to apologize for the careless and off-handed remark he made during today’s press conference.
"The President-elect expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share and they had a warm conversation,” said President-elect Obama Transition Team Spokesperson Stephanie Cutter."
Speaking of the press conference, what's wrong with the photo above? I'm old enough to remember the transitions of every president-elect since Nixon and I can't even once remember any of the presidents-elect giving a speech or press conference with a silly sign like that on the podium. I guess this is the new version of the "Great Seal of Obama".
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