Obama's attempts on Friday to put the Gates matter to rest reflected growing apprehension at the White House that the incident threatened to overwhelm the president's crowded policy agenda. Keeping the nation's focus on his proposed health care overhaul had become increasingly difficult, Obama conceded.
In one respect Obama did not backtrack: He seemed unwilling to drop the idea that race played a part in Gates' confrontation with police. Describing Crowley as an "outstanding police officer," the president said: "And even when you've got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the African-American community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding."
Normally sure-footed at news conferences, Obama had waded into a racially charged dispute without knowing all the facts - as he acknowledged - and came down squarely on the side of Gates, a friend.
His word choice left Cambridge police feeling demeaned.
There were signs both that Obama's statement had helped to ease tensions and that his critics were not about to let that be the end of it: Three Massachusetts police organizations issued a statement thanking the president for his "willingness to reconsider his remarks." And a Republican congressman from Michigan, Thaddeus McCotter, said he would introduce a House resolution calling on Obama to apologize to Crowley.
Obama tried to lighten his tone in his public remarks about his phone conversation with Crowley.
He said the police officer "wanted to find out if there was a way of getting the press off his lawn."
"I informed him that I can't get the press off my lawn," Obama said jokingly.
In his conversation with Gates, aides said, Obama and the professor had spoken about the president's statement to the press and his conversation with Crowley.
But Obama faced a challenge finding a way to acknowledge the feelings of the law enforcement community without angering black political leaders and other African-Americans, many of whom said that Obama's initial take on the case was the correct one.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Another view
Similar experience ended differently for Sun editorial writer. Pg 11
