Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter

Yahoo ^ | 5 march 2009 | Carol E. Lee Carol E. Lee

[truemiester]

President Barack Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his TelePrompter.

The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks.

Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches in the White House’s stately parlors. They stood next to him on the floor of a manufacturing plant in Indiana as he pitched his economic stimulus plan. They traveled to the Department of Transportation this week and were in the Capitol Rotunda last month when he paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln in six-minute prepared remarks.

Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual — not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.

After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii. But no such luck.

[truemiester]

As the article explains, this is unusual especially for politian that is pushing the same message for the last 24 months. Don't ya just wish you could have a few moments with the teleprompter while he was speaking? Hilarious!

[sinanju]

You mean like in the Will Ferrell vehicle “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”?

[Lou Budvis]

Teleprompter Barry is the biggest joke in the world. He is going to bring the Queen something from Costco.

[a fool in paradise]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080422194531AAxl51S

Can I just finish my waffle? (Obama’s words)?

[shibumi]

Yes!

(But he’s likely to “waffle” when he does it.)

[a fool in paradise]

He’s going to meet with the Queen behind closed doors so that his gaffes won’t make the world news...

Obama to Meet Privately With Queen of England
The Sun ^ | 3/5/09 | FoxNews
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2200441/posts?page=1

The Queen of England is to give President Obama a private “getting-to-know-you” audience next month. Her Majesty will meet the new president in advance of an economic summit in London. The private meeting is highly unusual because Obama will not be on a state visit. But advisers believe it is important the Queen meets him before any official trip. A source said: “There is a wish to do these things as discreetly as possible in the first instance.”

[Stand Watch Listen]

.....— not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small. .....After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, .....

Does anyone else discern the dichotomy here?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“In this kind of environment, you don’t want to make mistakes — on the economy you’re talking about doing things that affect the markets,” Kumar said.

That's the winner for Stupid Comment of the Day, Mr. Kumar. Obama is making mistakes every day, with or without the teleprompter. He is saying nothing at all about the economy and every policy decision and recommendation he has made is guaranteed to sink the markets even further. No need for a teleprompter to kill markets when you are a communist.

[shibumi]

(sorry!)

You got it first.

[a fool in paradise]

So if he does debate El Rushbo, y’think he’ll bring a teleprompter?

[Blind Eye Jones]

When Obama goes to heaven God will lend him his teleprompter.

[Ezekiel]

“He uses them to death,” a television crewmember who also covered the White House under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush said of the teleprompter. “The problem is, he never looks at you. He’s looking left, right, left, right — not at the camera. It’s almost like he’s not making eye contact with the American people.”

Gee I can't imagine why.

[shibumi]

"Teleprompter Barry is the biggest joke in the world. He is going to bring the Queen something from Costco."

..... like maybe a "Family Value Pack" of ground meat.

[a fool in paradise]

The Idiot in Chief made a really dumb statement this week when he said that he doesn’t pay attention to the stock market numbers and that it’s just a tracking poll.

[Centurion2000]

The Queen of England is to give President Obama a private “getting-to-know-you” audience next month

And the drubing her PM got she should have video cameras secretly film everything and post it on youtube for comedy effect.

[GeronL]

Can Obama say good morning to his kids without a prepared text?

[Admin Moderator]

To prevent duplication, always use the title at the source. Thanks.

[happygrl]

“It’s just something presidents haven’t done,” said Martha Joynt Kumar, a presidential historian who has held court in the White House since December 1975. “It’s jarring to the eye. In a way, it stands in the middle between the audience and the president because his eye is on the teleprompter.”

Just how much of a crutch the teleprompter has become for Obama was on sharp display during his latest commerce secretary announcement. The president spoke from a teleprompter in the ornate Indian Treaty Room for a few minutes. Then Gov. Gary Locke stepped to the podium and pulled out a piece of paper for reference.

The president’s teleprompter also elicited some uncomfortable laughter after he announced Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his choice for Health and Human Services secretary. “Kathy,” Obama said, turning the podium over to Sebelius, who waited at the microphone for an awkward few seconds while the teleprompters were lowered to the floor and the television cameras rolled.

Obama has relied on a teleprompter through even the shortest announcements and when repeating the same lines on his economic stimulus plan that he's been saying for months — whereas past presidents have mostly worked off of notes on the podium except during major speeches, such as the State of the Union.

“He uses them to death,” a television crewmember who also covered the White House under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush said of the teleprompter. “The problem is, he never looks at you. He’s looking left, right, left, right — not at the camera. It’s almost like he’s not making eye contact with the American people.”

[shibumi]

"Gee I can't imagine why."


He has his father's eyes.

[dennisw]