Opinion

Another cheap stunt

Leave it to the White House to transform a critical policy opportunity into yet another partisan squabble — and to cheapen a time-honored presidential privilege in the process.

A presidential address to a joint session of Congress is a historically rare event, signaling moments of critical national consequence. Maybe no more.

That President Obama has asked for an opportunity to speak to lawmakers about jobs suggests that he’s finally ready to get serious about the subject.

But then came the specifics: Obama can find the time to make the speech only next Wednesday at 8 p.m., precisely when a long-scheduled Republican presidential debate was to begin.

“Coincidental,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney — adding that the president will “carry forward” regardless of “whatever the competing opportunities on television are, whether it’s the Wildlife Channel or the Cooking Channel.”

Translation: Obama needs a campaign platform, and expects Congress to provide it. As it no doubt will — even though it doesn’t have to.

Fine. Respect for the presidency as an institution is a fine thing — even if the president himself clearly considers Congress to be chopped liver.

Hitherto, presidents went before Congress to seek declarations of war, or to propose equally weighty programs and policies.

But now Team Obama has set up a blatantly political event with the added “benefit” of undercutting the opposition party’s previously scheduled debate.

Or, as GOP Chairman Reince Priebus put it: “This White House is all politics, all the time.”

Which is why House Speaker John Boehner is entirely justified in asking the White House to delay the speech by 24 hours, citing “parliamentary and logistical” problems.

Which has prompted complaints from some Democrats that a Thursday speech would also conflict with a previously scheduled event — the NFL season opener.

Obviously, the Democrats have their priorities perfectly in order.

For their part, the debate’s sponsors — NBC, Politico and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation — say the debate will air right after Obama’s speech.

Which means, in practical terms, that the GOP will have two hours to dissect Obama’s speech, rather than the usual 15 minutes of rebuttal.

How that will work to the president’s advantage isn’t immediately clear, but nobody ever accused his team of possessing an over-abundance of brilliance. Or even common sense.

But what the president has done is to indelibly politicize an issue — jobs — that cries out for statesmanlike, nonpartisan policies and proposals.

If he thinks the American people aren’t already on to this sort of thing, he should read a poll or two.