Reporter to Earnest: ‘Is the President a Leader of a Coalition that Doesn’t Vote?’

Reporter to Earnest: "Is The President A Leader Of A Coalition That Doesn't Vote?" (RealClearPolitics)

JARED RIZZI, SIRIUSXM: The president in campaign events for years has said, "Don't boo, vote." People booed, they didn't necessarily vote. Yesterday when he spoke he made a point to speak to the two-thirds of Americans who decided not to show up. Is the president a leader of a coalition that doesn't vote?

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE: Well, I'll say that the president is a leader of a coalition of people who voted when he was on the ballot. There's no doubt about that in 2008 and in 2012.

RIZZI: But not necessarily when other Democrats were on the ballot.

EARNEST: Well, not this time. And so the question is what can Democrats do moving forward and I'm sure, again, there will be people who have a lot more experience in elections than even I do who are going to be spending some time thinking about what the party apparatus can do to better appeal to those voters.