Politico Pits Maxine Waters Against Barack Obama

Beltway insider outlet examines tension between Congresswoman and President

The online news site Politco got to the bottom of some ugly truths (and speculation) about possible beef between Congressional Black Caucus member Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States.

At the heart of it has been Rep. Waters frequent vocal criticism of Obama for not doing enough and saying enough about black economic and unemployment issues, which are at crisis levels. Rep. Waters said as much in an extensive interview with Loop 21 last month.

However, Politico took a spin toward personality clashes, describing how cordial the two elected officials are or aren't at receptions, and how often they've spoken to each other. The news report also seemed to care more about the nicknames for Rep. Waters ("Kerosene Maxine," "Maximum Waters") than about the serious problems that the Congresswoman has named in the media -- namely black unemployment.

A senior Democratic aide told The Loop 21 that "the Politico article failed to recognize that there are serious public policy issues at hand here and that this is not about personalities."

Politico also seemed to take an over-sympathized bend in favor of President Obama in the perceived rift, quoting a "senior Democratic operative" who speculated that African Americans "know [Obama] can’t be doing daily bus tours in predominately black communities for fear of turning off white moderate voters."

It was bold enough to name one woman, Ruby Hicks, who after Obama's MLK memorial speech said Rep. Waters "needs to shut up."

Rep. Waters will voice some of the other opinions of the electorate next week when she makes a speech before Congress that will consist of comments gathered from her followers on Facebook and Twitter.