EJ MONTINI

Is Obama visiting PHX VA, or is he FINALLY visiting it?

EJ Montini
opinion columnist
Presidential limo  turns the corner onto Indian School Road in front of the Phoenix VA Medical Center in January.

There's an old saying that I'd guess you first heard from your parents or from a school teacher or from the local minister, and that you've probably repeated to your kids. It goes:

There is no wrong time to do the right thing.

Well, it turns out there's an addendum: Except in politics.

President Barack Obama is visiting the Phoenix VA hospital Friday. Obama and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald are supposed to meet with administrators and others at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix and discuss reforms to the system.

It's the right thing for the president to do -- for which he will be roundly criticized.

Not because Obama is visiting the hospital on Friday but because he drove right by it in January when he was in town to talk about housing policies.

Some people will forgive him for that. They'll describe Friday's visit by saying simply, "President Obama is visiting the Phoenix VA hospital today."

Others will not forgive him. They'll say, pointedly, "President Obama is finally visiting the Phoenix VA today."

That's how it goes with politics.

If the president had stopped at the VA back in January he would have received the same treatment.

He would have been praised by those who already like him and who would have spoken about how nice it was that he took time from a busy trip to stop at the hospital. And he would have been criticized by those for whom he can do nothing right. They would have said that stopping at the VA was an "afterthought" to his housing policy visit and that he only stopped to avoid being criticized for not stopping.

Politics alters perception.

It won't help Obama that his visit Friday comes after a Democratic National Committee fundraiser and an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show in Los Angeles.

Does that mean the president believes those things are more important than the VA?

It does if you want it to mean that. Some people do.

Personally, I like the old saying, and I appreciate anyone who honors it, politician or not.

Because there really is no wrong time to do the right thing.