Guest Post By Kristinn Taylor
The 21st Century has made government propaganda techniques more obvious even as it becomes more insidious. Case in point: An Associated Press article running tonight highlighting nearly 500,000 applications for Obamacare at federal and state government exchange websites.
The AP article by White House correspondent Julie Pace is based on figures provided to the AP by Obama administration officials to whom the AP granted anonymity. The AP obligingly used the White House’s figures for the headline: AP Sources: 476,000 Obamacare Applications Filed
Obama’s press operation took to Twitter to promote the article soon after it was published. Jay Carney, Tara McGuinness and Bobby Whithorne each Tweeted the article.
Jay Carney
The article does report that the administration refuses to release the number of people who have actually enrolled in Obamacare thorough the federal exchange, but by leading with the applications number for federal and state enrollments fed it by the White House, the AP makes it appear the administration is starting to see success with the troubled program.
Julie Pace, who did a fawning interview of Obama during the shutdown, gives Obama a pass on responsibility for the disastrous rollout of the program that will be his presidential legacy, saying only that it is an embarrassment for a frustrated Obama:
Obama’s advisers say the president has been frustrated by the flawed rollout. During one of his daily health care briefings last week, he told advisers assembled in the Oval Office that the administration had to own up to the fact that there were no excuses for not having the website ready to operate as promised.
The president is expected to address the problems on Monday during a health care event at the White House. Cabinet members and other top administration officials will also be traveling around the country in the coming weeks to encourage sign-ups in areas with the highest population of uninsured people.
The first three weeks of sign-ups have been marred by a cascade of computer problems, which the administration says it is working around the clock to correct. The rough rollout has been a glaring embarrassment for Obama, who invested significant time and political capital in getting the law passed during his first term.
Imagine how the AP would have treated President George W. Bush if three weeks in to the rollout of his signature Medicare Part D prescription drug plan he would not provide the number of people who had actually been able to sign up for the program, not just those who applied. Then imagine Ari Fleischer, Scott McClellan and Dana Perino promoting the article.
You can stop laughing now.
UPDATE: Here’s another Rachel Racusen“>Obama official promoting the article.
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