Obama confronted after town hall by 'tea party' activist

Washington, DC--Today, the Democratic National Committee released a video on the heels of last week's GOP Presidential debate and straw poll in Ames, IA where all of the Republican candidates pledged their allegiance to the extreme Tea Party wing of the Republican Party and the extreme ideology they espouse-- a set of principles and polices that protect the special interests, tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations at the expense of the middle class, seniors and students. That pledge came the same day that Mitt Romney, on a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair, told a crowd in response to a question about corporations paying their fair share that "corporations are people," articulating the Tea Party's views on fair tax policy. Then at the Ames Straw Poll, it became clear that because all of the candidates are embracing Tea Party policies, the only winner that night was the Tea Party. The Tea Party was further bolstered when another one of their champions, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, announced Saturday that he is running for president.


Rhodes first brought up the question during the town hall and then approached the president afterward and the two got into a heated exchange. (Watch video below.)


He complained to Fox News afterward that Obama had not addressed the question whether Biden actually made the remarks. Reports at the time had another member of Congress, Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, actually saying the word “terrorists” and Biden agreeing. But the vice president's office denied that Biden ever used the term.


“He just denied it. He said the vice president didn't make any of those assertions,” Rhodes said. “If he doesn’t want to even admit what was on TV nationally -- all over the place -- then how can you have a conversation?”


Obama also faced criticism during the event from Emily Neal of Decorah. who openly questioned his negotiating skills with Republicans and asked whether the president had abandoned liberals in the healthcare and debt-ceiling fights and in extending the Bush-era tax cuts.


The president responded by saying that the political reality of governing had forced him to make choices.


“My job as president goes beyond just winning the political argument. I’ve got a whole bunch of responsibilities, which means I have to make choices sometimes that are unattractive and I know will be bad for me politically and I know will get supporters of mine disappointed,” he said.


Later, he added, “The bottom line is we’re moving in the right direction. But I know it’s frustrating, because the other side is unreasonable. And you don’t want to -- you don’t want to reward unreasonableness. Look, I get that. But sometimes you’ve got to make choices in order to do what’s best for the country at that particular moment, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.