Washington:
The audience is getting into the act.
For months President Obama has been delighting Democratic audiences with his metaphoric tale of how Republicans crashed the economy into a ditch, stood by as Democrats repaired it enough to drive again, and now want voters to give them the keys back.
White House reporters quickly learned to be alert to Mr. Obama's embellishments. What started in May as a short economy-as-car analogy gained color and length over time: The Democrats pulled on work boots, they sweat as they pulled the car from the mud, unrepentant Republicans lazed above the ditch, drank Slurpees, tossed down a shovel, ordered Democrats to work harder, do this, do that.
As partisan audiences laughed, clapped and egged him on, Mr. Obama, often criticized as aloof and professorial, would grow animated and slap-happy as he got into the act. "No! You can't have the keys back! You don't know how to drive!," he would shout as if to the Republicans.
By mid-summer came the real crowd-pleaser: Mr. Obama began noting that to drive a car forward, you choose "D;" to go backwards, "R."
The latest twist came earlier this week in Miami - and not from Mr. Obama.
At a fund-raiser at the home of Alonzo Mourning Jr., the former Miami Heat basketball player, the president was winding up his umpteenth telling of the analogy, refusing to give Republicans the keys to the rescued car. "You can get in the car," he said, as if to them, "but you've got to ride in the backseat."
"In the trunk!" someone yelled.
It was Mr. Obama's turn to laugh. "No, we wouldn't do that," he said. "We got room in the back. But we don't want their hands on the wheel."
For months President Obama has been delighting Democratic audiences with his metaphoric tale of how Republicans crashed the economy into a ditch, stood by as Democrats repaired it enough to drive again, and now want voters to give them the keys back.
White House reporters quickly learned to be alert to Mr. Obama's embellishments. What started in May as a short economy-as-car analogy gained color and length over time: The Democrats pulled on work boots, they sweat as they pulled the car from the mud, unrepentant Republicans lazed above the ditch, drank Slurpees, tossed down a shovel, ordered Democrats to work harder, do this, do that.
As partisan audiences laughed, clapped and egged him on, Mr. Obama, often criticized as aloof and professorial, would grow animated and slap-happy as he got into the act. "No! You can't have the keys back! You don't know how to drive!," he would shout as if to the Republicans.
By mid-summer came the real crowd-pleaser: Mr. Obama began noting that to drive a car forward, you choose "D;" to go backwards, "R."
The latest twist came earlier this week in Miami - and not from Mr. Obama.
At a fund-raiser at the home of Alonzo Mourning Jr., the former Miami Heat basketball player, the president was winding up his umpteenth telling of the analogy, refusing to give Republicans the keys to the rescued car. "You can get in the car," he said, as if to them, "but you've got to ride in the backseat."
"In the trunk!" someone yelled.
It was Mr. Obama's turn to laugh. "No, we wouldn't do that," he said. "We got room in the back. But we don't want their hands on the wheel."
